
Qass E:^^^ 

Book, KsMz^ 



i 



THE 

ANTI-SLAVERY MOVEMENT 
IN KENTUCKY 

PRIOR TO 1850 



A THESIS 

PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL 
OF CORNELL UNIVERSITY FOR THE DEGREE OF 

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 



BY 

ASA EARL MARTIN 



1918 



/ 

Anti- Slavery Movement 
In Kentucky -^^ 

PRIOR TO 1850 




A THESIS 

Presented to Tke Faculty of Tke Graduate 

ScKool of Cornell University For 

Tke Degree of 

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 




BY 

ASA EARL MARTIN 

Assistant Professor of American History, 
Tlie Pennsylvania State College 



(^ .'^ A. 



5 



TO 



Anna Elizabeth Fox Martin 



PREFACE. 



While much has been written concerning the anti-slavery 
movement in the United States, the work of historians has been 
chiefly directed toward the radical movement associated with 
the name of William Lloyd Garrison. This has often been done 
at the expense of and sometimes to the total neglect of those who 
favored gradual emancipation. This inequality of treatment 
has been accredited to the fact that the Garrisonian abolitionists 
were exceedingly active and vigorous in their propaganda and 
not to any preponderance of numbers or larger historical sig- 
nificance. The gradual emancipationists, unlike the followers of 
Garrison who were restricted to the free states, were found in 
all parts of the Union. They embraced great numbers of the 
leaders in politics, business, and education; and while far more 
numerous in the free than in the slave states they nevertheless 
included a large and respectable element in Maryland, Virginia, 
Kentucky, Tennessee and Missouri. It was to be expected that 
the gradual emancipationists in these border states would act 
with conservatism. They were themselves sometimes slave- 
holders and in any event they saw the difficulties and dangers 
of any sort of emancipation. Their number was, however, too 
considerable and their activities too noteworthy to warrant the 
neglect which they have received at the hands of the historians 
of the anti-slavery movement. 

in this volume I have attempted to relate the history of 
the anti-slavery movement in Kentucky to the year 1850 with 
special emphasis upon the work of the gradual emancipationists. 
I intend later to prepare a second volume which will carry the 
study to 1870; and I hope that the appearance of this work will 
encourage the promotion of similar studies in the other border 
states. 

I desire to express my obligations to those who have aided 
me in the preparation of this work. Though but few can be 
mentioned by name, the services of all are held in grateful 
remembrance. While most of the work was done at Cornell Uni- 
versity, I feel especially indebted to Professor William E. Dodd 
and to Professor M. W. Jernegan of the University of Chicago. 
Under their direction my graduate study was begun and my at- 



tention directed to the subject of this investigation. To Pro- 
fessor George F. Zook, of The Pennsylvania State College, I am 
under obligation for reading and criticizing the manuscript. Nor 
can I fail to mention the many courtesies shown me at the library 
of the Wisconsin State Historical Society, at the library of the 
University of Chicago, where the Durrett collection of Ken- 
tucky newspapers and manuscripts was placed at my disposal 
before it had been catalogued or thrown open to the general 
public, at the library of Cornell University, at the Congres- 
sional Library, at Harvard University Library, at the Boston 
Public Library and at the libraries in Cincinnati. Through the 
kindness of Miss Sophonisba Breckinridge of the University of 
Chicago much valuable material was obtained from the Breck- 
inridge papers now deposited in the Library of Congress but not 
yet available for public use. Above all I am indebted to my 
wife for valuable assistance rendered me in reading and cor- 
recting both manuscript and proof. 

In justice to the persons named, I should add that the 
author alone is responsible for statements of fact and for con- 
clusions. In a few cases, perhaps unwisely, I have disregarded 
their suggestions. 

December 12, 1917. Asa Earl Martin. 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter Page 

Introduction 6 

I. The First Attack upon Slavery 11 

II. Anti-Slavery in Kentucky, 1792-1800 18 

III. Anti-Slavery in Kentucky, 1800-1830 33 

IV. The Colonization Movement in Kentucky, 

1816-1850 49 

V^, Anti-Slavery Societies and the Advent of 

Garrisonian Abolition, 1830-1840 63 

VI. The Kentucky Churches and Slavery, 1830- 

1850 79 

VII. The Non- Importation Law of 1833 and the 

Efforts to Secure its Repeal 88 

VIII. Gradual Emancipation and Radical Aboli- 

tionism, 1830-1840 98 

IX. The Failure of Emancipation in the Consti- 

tutional Convention of 1849 Ill 

X. Conclusions 139 

Bibliography 148 

Index 159 



INTRODUCTION 



The portion of Virginia located west of the Appalachian 
Mountains and known as Kentucky was frequently visited by 
Indian traders and hunters between 1750 and 1770 and proba- 
bly from earlier times. The early comers did not remain to 
make permanent improvements. After hunting and trading in 
the country for a few months, they either returned to their 
eastern homes or pushed further westward or southward. The 
glowing accounts given by them of the beauty and the resources 
of this distant region awakened much interest in the older com- 
munities, and resulted, after repeated failures, in the establish- 
ment in Kentucky during the first years of the American Rev- 
olution of permanent settlements, which advanced after 1783 
with great rapidity. ^ The frontier was pushed back in every 
direction and by 1792 the increase of population and the devel- 
opment of resources was sufficient to warrant Congress in ad- 
mitting the district into the Union. 2 

Slavery was introduced into Kentucky with the earliest 
settlers. 3 While the majority of the pioneers were very poor and 
consequently non-slaveholders, there was, during the years 
following the Revolution, an influx of prosperous settlers, 
particularly from Virginia, who brought a number of slaves 
with them and engaged in the cultivation of tobacco on a con- 
siderable scale. 4 It was not, however, until the Indian danger 
had been removed and frontier conditions in Kentucky had given 
place to commercial activity and to planting for profit as well as 
for subsistence that the number of Negroes materially increased. 
Their numerical strength can not be definitely determined s 

» Theodore Roosevelt: "Winning of the West," Vol. 3, p. 12f. 

« United States Statutes At Large, Vol. 1. 1789-99. P- 189. . 

» Draper MSB.: "Life of Daniel Boone," Vol. 3, pp. 351-2. Daniel Boone in a letter to 
Col. Richard Henderson. April 1,1775, written in what is now Madison County, said that a party 
of Indians firing on his company had killed Mr. Tweety and his Negro. Aniong Boone s 
accounts there is also an entr\' recording his purchase of a Negro woman for the sum ol 80 
pounds (Roosevelt, "Winning of the West," Vol. 3, p. 27). In the records of the various settle- 
ments mention is often made of Negroes. (Richard H. Collins: "History of Kentucky, p. 38.) 
(Lewis Collins: "Historical Sketches," p. 19.) 

* N.S. Shaler: "Kentucky, A Pioneer Commonwealth, p. 117. 

» Draper MSS.: Vol. 4, p. 503. In 1777 a census of the town of Harrodsburg gave 
the slave population as 19 out of a total of 201 inhabitants. ^. ^ , , ^. „ ,„„ 

The following table gives a comprehensive view of the white, the slave and the tree 
Negro elements of the population of Kentucky from 1790 to 1850: ^^ 

Year White Per Cent. Slave Per Cent. Free Negro Cent. 

1790 61,133 83.0 12,430 16.9 114 .1 

1800 179.873 81.4 40,343 18.2 ;^39 .3 

1810 .S24.237 79.7 80.561 19.8 1 ,/13 .4 

1820 434,644 75.9 126,732 23.4 2.759 .7 

1830 517.787 75.2 165,213 24.0 4.917 ./ 

1840 590,253 75.7 182.258 23.3 7,3 7 .9 

1850 761 413 77.5 210,981 21.4 10,011 1.1 



Introduction 7 

previous to 1790, when, according to the first federal census, 
they constituted 16.9 per cent, of the total population. «* 

The leading slaveholding section in 1790 was the central 
part of the state, commonly known as the Blue Grass region. 
During the next three decades slaveholding extended eastward 
and southeastward to the mountainous districts and quite 
generally over the western and southern parts of the state. 
The percentage of the slave population in 1790 varied in the 
different counties from 8 to 20 per cent, of the total. By 1850 
it was equal to that of the white population in several of the 
counties in the Blue Grass region, while in the mountainous 
counties along the eastern border it did not exceed 2 or 3 per 
cent. '' 

Since it is obvious that the growth of slavery in Kentucky 
must depend upon the system of agriculture, it may be impor- 
tant to notice at this point the various products of the state in 
the early period. Although no record was made by the census 
department of the agricultural products in the states before 
1840 and little accurate information on the subject is available, 
some material has been found to indicate the kind and the value 
of the principal products of farm and factory. In 1789 Lord 
Dorchester (Sir Guy Carleton) , the Governor General of Canada, 
in a letter to Lord Sidney said that "the cultivated products" 
of Kentucky were "Indian corn, wheat, rye, barley, oats, etc., 
and tobacco, which latter article is raised in considerable quan- 
tities by slaves, as practiced in Virginia. ' ' « Furthermore he 
expressed the opinion that "of all the forms of cultivation of 
which the colony is susceptible, that which would be at once 
more profitable to the settlers* * *would be the rearing of 
flocks." » Henry B. Fearon in his "Sketches of America" gives 
the value of the exports of Kentucky for 1818 asr^® 

Flour and Wheat $1 ,000 ,000 

Pork, Bacon and Lard 350 ,000 

Whiskey 500 ,000 

Tobacco 1 ,900 ,000 

Cordage, Hemp and Fabrics of Hemp 500 ,000 

Wool and Fabrics of Wool and Cotton 100 ,000 

Cattle 200 ,000 

• Draper MSS.: Vol. 4, p. 503. Table note 5. 
' Ibid. 

• Canadian Archives, 1890, p. 119. 

• Ibid. 

" Henry B. Fearon: "Sketches of America," p. 238. 

See also, Timothy Flint: "History and Geography of the Mississippi Valley," V«l. 1. 
p. 351; J. L. Allen: "The Blue Grass Region of Kentucky," p. 53. 



8 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

Horses and Mules $100 ,000 

Salt-petre and Gunpowder 60 ,000 

White and Red Lead 45 ,000 

Soap and Candles 27 ,000 

Total $4 ,782 ,000 

It is noteworthy that cotton does not appear in this list. 

In the following table ^^ are enumerated for comparison the 
chief agricultural products in 1840 of the states of Ohio, Ken- 
tucky, and Alabama. Ohio is selected as a neighboring free 
state and Alabama as a representative state of the lower South. 

Ohio Kentucky Alabama 

Horses and Mules 430,527 295,853 143,147 

Cattle 1,217,874 787,098 668,018 

Sheep 2 ,028 ,401 1 ,008 ,240 163 ,243 

Swine 2 ,099 ,746 2 ,310 ,533 1 ,423 ,873 

Wheat, Bushels 16 ,571 ,661 4 ,803 ,151 828 ,052 

Barley, Bushels 212 ,440 17 ,491 7 ,692 

Oats, Bushels 14,393,103 7,155,974 1,406,353 

Rye, Bushels 814 ,205 1 ,321 ,373 51 ,008 

Corn, Bushels 33,668,144 39,847,120 20,947,004 

Potatoes, Bushels 5 ,805 ,021 1 ,055 ,085 1 ,708 ,356 

Sugar, Pounds 6 ,363 ,386 1 ,377 ,835 10 ,143 

Tobacco, Pounds 5 ,942 ,275 53 ,436 ,909 273 ,302 

Cotton, Pounds 691 ,456 117 ,138 ,823 

A study of the table shows that by 1840 Kentucky pro- 
duced a large quantity of tobacco and fairly large quantities of 
other agricultural staples such as corn, oats and wheat. Cot- 
ton was a negligible product in comparison with its production 
in a state of the lower South. With the exception of the single item 
of tobacco, the products of Kentucky were strikingly like those 
of Ohio as to kind and quantity, a fact which undoubtedly had 
its bearing upon the attitude of the state toward slavery at vari- 
ous periods before 1860. The system of slave labor was bound 
up only with the production of tobacco in so far as agricultural 
staples were concerned, since it was hardly to be doubted that 
the cultivation of wheat, oats, rye, corn, and perhaps of hemp 
also could be carried on more profitably with free than with 
slave labor. 



" U. S. Census Report: 1840, Agriculture, Manufactures, etc., pp. 228, 27-1, 260, 326. 



Introduction 9 

So important was the production of tobacco in Kentucky 
and so intimately was it connected with the system of slave labor 
in the state that further description of the industry seems 
desirable. Though grown in all parts of the country in 1840,^2 
tobacco was pre-eminently a border state product and in its 
production was found the chief employment of the slaves in 
those states. Notwithstanding this, the Kentucky planters 
did not generally regard the industry as well adapted to the 
economic life of the state. The cultivation of tobacco was 
exhaustive to the soil and required a constant extension of the 
tobacco fields. This absorption of new land and replacing of 
white free-holders by Negroes was further extended because 
of the necessity of providing additional land to give employment 
to the natural increase of the slaves. These disadvantages 
were keenly felt in Kentucky where the physical conditions 
did not favor the plantation system. The soil in the main 
slave-holding portion of the state was easily tilled and was 
abundantly productive; the climate was temperate and invig- 
orating. As a result, the system of agriculture was that of the 
small farm and not that of the vast plantation. 

The people of Kentucky early appreciated the fact that the 
cultivation of tobacco might not be entirely desirable. In 
Danville, for many years the political and religious center of 
the state, 13 there existed, between 1786 and 1790, a political 
club composed of some thirty members, among whom were a 
number of the officers of the district. Nearly all of them 
afterwards held important offices of trust and honor in the state 
and the national governments. ^ * The club held regular meetings 
to discuss and vote upon the issues of the day. At one meeting 
in 1788, it took under consideration the question "whether the 
culture of tobacco in the District of Kentucky will be beneficial 

" The number of pounds of tobacco produced by the different states in 1840 was: 

Virginia 75 ,347 ,106 

Kentucky 53 ,436 ,909 

Tennessee 29 ,550 ,432 

Maryland 24 ,816 ,016 

North Carolina 16 ,772 ,359 

Missouri 9 ,067 ,913 

Ohio 5 ,942 ,273 

Connecticut •. 471 ,657 

Pennsylvania 325 ,018 

Alabama 273 ,302 

Georgia 162 ,894 

Louisiana 119 ,824 

Mississippi 83 ,471 

South Carolina 51 ,519 

U. S. Census: 1840, Agriculture, Manufactures, etc., p. 408. 

" Thomas Speed: "The Political Club," pp. 19-21. Filson Club Publications, No. 9. 

'« Speed: "The Political Club," pp. 19-22, 38. A full list of the members is given 
on page 38. 



10 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

to the citizens of the District," and it was resolved "that it is 
the opinion of this club that the culture of tobacco will not be 
beneficial to the citizens of the District of Kentucky." 1 ^ While 
the reasons for this decision are not known, it may be argued 
that the members of the Political Club, most of whom were 
immigrants from Virginia, had misgivings as to the desirability 
of developing an extensive system of slave labor in Kentucky, 
since tobacco was cultivated in the parent state chiefly by slaves. 
They must have been familiar with Jefferson's "Notes on Vir- 
ginia," published in 1782, in which he deplored the disastrous 
effect of slavery on both men and the soil ^ ^ and accordingly 
they may have felt that they were standing at the parting of 
the ways. 

In conclusion it may be said that, while the introduction of 
slavery into Kentucky was inevitable in view of the circum- 
stances of settlement, conditions within the state were not 
particularly favorable to its development. Adjacent to the free 
states of the Old Northwest, Kentucky found herself in compe- 
tition with the more economic system of free labor. The 
exhausting nature of tobacco culture was destined to render 
the planters keenly conscious of the handicap under which 
their agriculture labored in comparison with the agriculture of 
the states beyond the Ohio. Conditions that had operated to bring 
about emancipation in Pennsylvania and the states to the north- 
ward soon exerted a similar influence in Kentucky and the 
result was an anti-slavery agitation which took the form of a 
movement for some plan of gradual and compensated eman- 
cipation. Immediate emancipationists and Garrisonian abo- 
litionists were never numerous in Kentucky and the few existing 
there were almost entirely among the non-slaveholding class. 

'• Speed: "The Political Club," p. 129. 

" Tbomai Jefferson: "Notes on Virginia." pp. 221-230. 



THE FIRST ATTACK UPON SLAVERY 



Chapter I 



During the period of the Revolution and the eariy years of 
the Republic, sentiment in the country as a whole was unfriend- 
ly to the institution of slavery. It was regarded as inconsis- 
tent with Christian civilization and out of accord with the great 
principles of liberty for which the Colonies had contended. 
Since slavery existed in every state in the Union, the feeling that 
it was injurious to society was in no sense dependent upon sec- 
tional lines. Its existence was lamented by such men as Wash- 
ington, Jefferson, Monroe, Madison, Franklin, Hamilton, Jay 
and Adams. There was a general regret that the institution 
had ever been planted in America and it was hoped that in time 
it would be abandoned. No effort was made to defend it or to 
present it as an ideal basis for the political and economic struc- 
ture of society and at best it was regarded as a necessary evil. ^ 
It was opposed upon economic grounds by some and upon moral 
and religious grounds by others and the question, as Jefferson 
stated it, was whether "the liberties of a nation be secure when 
we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds 
of the people that their liberties are of the gift of God." 2 It is, 
therefore, not surprising that Jefferson in the constitution which 
he proposed for the state of Virginia in 1776 inserted a provision 
that "no person hereafter coming into this country shall be held 
in slavery under any pretext whatever." ^ His opposition to 
slavery was expressed again in 1784 in the report to Congress on 
a plan of government for the Western Territory, which contained 
a clause prohibiting slavery or involuntary servitude in this terri- 
tory after the year 1800. * Three years later this principle was 
accepted in the famous Northwest Ordinance. 



1 W.F.Poole: "Anti-Slavery Opinion before 1800"; S. B. Weeks: "Anti-Slavery 
Opinion in the South," publications of the Southern Historical Association, Vol. 2, 1898. 
' Jefferson: "Notes on Virginia," p. 222. 

• Writings of Thomas Jefferson: Vol. 2, p. 26. 

* Writings of Thomas Jefferson: Vol. 3, p. 432. Later in his life Jefferson was forced 
to abandon his early hope that slavery would soon cease to flourish in America; yet he still 
believed in its ultimate extinction. In 1814 he said: "The love of justice and the love of 
country plead equally for the cause of these people." Ibid., Vol. 4, p. 477. He still believed 
that the hour of emancipation was advancing with the "march of time" and urged continued 
effort on the part of the friends of freedom. 



12 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 18^0 

It was during the Revolutionary period that slavery was 
introduced into Kentucky and one need not be surprised to find 
that the newly settled district shared in the opposition described 
above. The economic and social conditions of the frontier were 
antagonistic to slavery and favorable to the development of a 
democratic society. Frontier life tended to produce self reliance, 
independence, and individuality. It fostered a sense of equality. 
There was an absence of great wealth, of highly polished society, 
and of a leisure class. Slaveholding could not be an important 
element in the social, economic, or political life of such a people 
and a large percentage of the population did not own slaves. In 
addition to these pioneers in the Blue Grass region, there were 
settlers of decided anti-slavery tendencies from New England 
and other northern states who settled in the northern part of the 
state. Such was John Filson, the "Yankee Schoolmaster" and 
the first historian of Kentucky. ^ 

While Kentucky remained an integral part of Virginia, there 
was little opportunity for a general expression of the sentiment 
of the people as to slavery; but, upon one occasion, their opinion 
was indirectly voiced in a debate before the Danville Political 
Club, which, as has been stated, embraced some of the leading 
men of Kentucky. At one of the meetings, in 1788, the new 
federal constitution, which had recently been submitted to the 
states for ratification, was taken under consideration. Senti- 
ment was unanimous against the clause relating to the impor- 
tation of slaves because it deprived Congress of the power to pro- 
hibit the foreign slave trade before 1808. It was the opinion of 
the members that Congress ought to be given power to cut off 
the odious traffic at any time it should choose to do so.*^ While 
this act was not a direct condemnation of slavery, it showed an 
early desire to check the growth of the institution. 

Though the opposition to slavery was general throughout 
the country, there was, however, little organized sentiment 
against the institution as such. What there was, seems to have 
existed in Kentucky as elsewhere, chiefly among the churches. 

It was David Rice, the father of Presbyterianism in the 
West, who took the first conspicuous step toward securing the 
abolition of slavery in Kentucky.^ He moved from Virginia in 

' R. H. Collins: "History of Kentucky." Vol. 2, pp. 195, 492. 

• Speed: "Political Club," p. 151. 

' R. H. Bishop: "Outline of tlie Church in Kentucky, containing the Memoirs of David 
Rice." pp. 114,95,385. 417; R. H.Collins: •'History of Kentucky," Vol. l.p. 132f; J. M. Brown: 
"Political Beginnings of Kentucky," p. 226; Robert Davidson: "History of the Presbyterian 
Church in Kentucky." pp. 65-71. 



The First Attack Upon Slavery 13 

1783 and identified his fortunes with those of the new settlement. 
Besides his active duties as a minister of the Gospel and as 
the organizer of numerous churches, he was zealously engaged 
in advancing the cause of education. He established in his 
house in Lincoln County, in 1784, the first grammar school of 
the West. He was also the first teacher in Transylvania Semi- 
nary, and for years the chairman of its board of trustees. "Father" 
Rice, as he was commonly known, was recognized for his ability 
and piety as a leader of the religious and educational thought 
in the West. ^ 

On the eve of the meeting of the convention of 1792 to 
frame a constitution for Kentucky as a state in the Union, he 
published, under the signature of "Philanthropos," a pamphlet 
entitled "Slavery, Inconsistent with Justice and Good PoHcy"^ 
which embraced the doctrine he had long preached. In this 
he spoke freely of the infringement on personal rights; the 
want of protection for females; the deprivation of religious and 
moral instruction; the violent separation of families; the growing 
danger of servile insurrection ; the tendency to sap the foundations 
of moral and political virtue; the indulging in habits of idleness 
and vice, especially among the young men; the comparative 
unproductiveness of slave property; the discouraging of valuable 
immigration from the eastward; and the probable deterioration 
of the country. He undertook to answer objections that were 
commonly raised to emancipation, especially those drawn from the 
Scriptures, which were being used to justify slavery. In con- 
clusion he proposed that the coming convention should "resolve 
unconditionally to put an end to slavery in Kentucky." lo Not 
content with mere argument, he succeeded in being elected a 
delegate to the coming convention. ^ ^ 

Soon after the assembling of the convention in Danville, 
in 1792, 1 2 a special committee, of which Colonel George Nicholas 

' Davidson: "History of the Presbyterian Church in Kentucky," pp. 65-71. 

» Bishop: "Outline of the Church in Kentucky," pp. 385fl, gives this pamphlet in full. 

■» Ibid. 

" Lewis Collins: "Historical Sketches of Kentucky," p. 147, gives a list of the 
delegates to the Convention from the different counties. J. M. Brown: "Political Beginnings 
of Kentucky," p. 226f, Filson Club Publications. R. H. Collins: "History of Kentucky," 
Vol. 1, p. 133; Humphrey Marshall: "History of Kentucky," Vol. 1, p. 394. 

'2 Marshall: "History of Kentucky," Vol. 1, p. 394; Mann Butler: "History of the 
Commonwealth of Kentucky," pp. 206-7. 

J. T. Morehead in "An Address in Commemoration of the First Settlement of Ken- 
tucky" (133-4), at Jonesborough on the 25th of May, 1840, in speaking of the members of 
the convention of 1792 said: "From the County of Mercer was the Rev. David Rice, a min- 
ister of the Presbyterian Church.***He sought a place in the convention, in the hope of being 
able to infuse into its deliberations a zeal for the gradual extirpation of slavery in Kentucky.*** 
His learning, his piety, his grave and venerable deportment, and his high rank in the church 
to which he belonged, gave to his opinions deser\-ed influence, and he supported them in de- 
bate with considerable ability." 



14 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

was the most influential member, was appointed to draft the 
constitution, which was soon offered for adoption. Apparently 
no serious differences existed among the delegates except as to 
recognizing the existence or the perpetuity of slavery, i^ This 
question was brought directly before the convention by the 
ninth article which legalized slavery. After considerable dis- 
cussion the article was adopted and while it was designed to 
make the institution as mild and as humane as possible it never- 
theless made it virtually perpetual unless there should be a 
change in the fundamental law. The legislature was denied 
power to pass laws for the emancipation of slaves without the 
consent of their owners, nor could it prevent immigrants from 
bringing in their slaves. On the other hand, the General As- 
sembly was given extensive powers in respect to importation 
of slaves into the state as merchandise. ^ * 

It was upon the adoption of this article that the friends 
and opponents of slavery joined battle. The ablest of those 
who opposed the definite establishment of slavery in Kentucky 
was David Rice. During the early days of the convention 
he delivered an address before that body which was one of the 
most earnest and forceful productions of the period. ^^ In it 
he pointed to the anomaly of a "free moral agent, legally de- 
prived of free agency, and obliged to act according to the will 
of another free agent of the same species ; and yet he is accountable 
to his Creator for the use he makes of his own free agency." i* 

He declared sarcastically that the legislature, in order to 
be consistent, should make the master accountable for the 
actions of the slaves in all things here and hereafter. 1 " He 

'» Brown: "Political Beginnings of Kentucky," p. 227f. 

" "The legislature shall have no power to pass laws for the emancipation of slaves 
without the consent of their owners, previous to such emancipation, and a full equivalent 
in money for the slaves so emancipated. They shall have no power to prevent emigrants 
to this State from bringing with them such persons as are deemed slaves by the laws of any 
one of the United States, so long as any person of the same age or description shall be con- 
tinued in slavery by the laws of this State. They shall pass laws to permit the owners of 
slaves to emancipate them, saving the rights of creditors, and preventing them from becom- 
ing chargeable to the county in which they reside. Tliey shall have full powerto prevent slaves 
being brought into this State as merchandize. They shall have full power to prevent any 
slaves being brought into this State from any foreign country, and to prevent those from 
being brought into this State who have been since the first day of January-, one thousand seven 
hundred and eighty-nine, or hereafter may be, imported into any of the United States from 
a foreign country. And they shall have full power to pass such laws as may be necessary to 
oblige the owners of slaves to treat them with humanity, to provide for them necessary 
clothing and provision, to abstain from all injuries to them, extending to life or limb, and in 
case of their neglect or refusal to comply with the directions of such laws, to have such slave 
or slaves sold for the benefit of their owner or owners." William Littell: "Statute Laws of 
Kentucky," Vol. 1, p. 32; B. P. Poore: "The Federal and State Constitutions," Part 1, p. 653. 

'• This address was printed in pamphlet form soon after the adjournment of the con- 
vention under the same title as his pre-convention pamphlet, but under his own name. The 
pamphlet went through many editions. 

>• David Rice: "Slavery, Inconsistent with Justice and Good Policy," Edition 
1792, pp. S-6. 

" Ibid..***.v- 6. 



The First Attack Upon Slavery 15 

regarded liberty as inalienable by the legislature except for 
vicious conduct, and claims to property in slaves as invalid. 
"A thousand laws can never make that innocent, which the 
Divine Law has made criminal: or give them a right to that 
which the Divine Law forbids them to claim." ^^ He replied 
to the argument that slaveholders would be prevented from 
emigrating to Kentucky by saying that five useful citizens 
would come for every slaveholder that was lost, and that if 
slavery was permitted, free labor would seek other regions, i" 
The alleged unfitness of slaves for freedom was met by the 
question, "Shall we continue to maim souls, because a maimed 
soul is unfit for society?" ^o But he considered that present 
conditions should be taken into account and that gradual 
emancipation was the only practical plan. His proposal was 
that the constitution should declare against slavery as a matter 
of principle, leaving it to the legislature to find the most suitable 
means of abolishing it. He suggested, however, that it would 
be expedient for that body to "prevent the importation of any 
more slaves" and to "enact that all bom after such a date should 
be born free" and that some system of education be devised for 
making useful citizens of the slaves. 21 Emancipation by some 
means he regarded as a political necessity, and he closed with 
an earnest appeal that the new state might not be stained with 
this sin at its birth. "The slavery of the Negroes," he said, 
"began in iniquity; a curse has attended it, and a curse will 
follow it. National vices will be punished with national calam- 
ities. Let us avoid these vices, that we may avoid the punish- 
ment which they deserve. ** *Holding men in slavery is the 
national vice of Virginia; and while a part of that state, we were 
partakers of the guilt. As a separate state, we are just now 
come to the birth ; and it depends upon our free choice whether 
we shall be bom in this sin, or innocent of it. We now have 
it in our power to adopt it as our national crime; or to bear a 
national testimony against it. I hope the latter will be our 
choice; that we shall wash our hands of this guilt; and not 
leave it in the power of a future legislature, evermore to stain 
our reputation or our conscience with it." 2 2 

The constitutional provision fixing slavery in the state was 
ably supported by Colonel George Nicholas, the most distin- 

'• Rice: "Slavery, Inconsistent * * *," p. 14. 
'• Ibid., p. 15. 
" Ibid., p. 21. 
" Ibid., p. 21. 
» Ibid., p. 24. 



16 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

guished man in the convention and at that time the most emi- 
nent lawyer in Kentucky. 2 3 After a thorough discussion which 
lasted for a number of days, the question was put to a vote. 
This was the only case in which the ayes and noes were recorded 
in the Journal. Under the date of Wednesday, April 18, 1792, 
is the following entry: "A motion was made by Mr. Taylor, of 
Mercer, and seconded by Mr. Smith, of Bourbon, to expunge the 
ninth article of the constitution, respecting slavery, which was 
negatived ; and the yeas and nays on the question were ordered 
to be entered on the Journals." 2 4 The result of the vote was: 
yeas, 16; nays, 26.^5 

Three of the delegates, Wallace of Woodford County, Wal- 
ton of Nelson County, and Sebastian of Jefferson County, who 
were generally regarded, prior to the meeting of the convention, 
as emancipationists, supported the constitution as proposed by 
the committee. This change of attitude has been attributed by 
Brown and others to the influence of Nicholas, ^e although no 
evidence has been produced to support the contention. Had 
they not upheld the constitution, the final result would have been 
the same, though the pro-slavery majority would have been re- 
duced from ten to four. 

If the constitution could be described as the work of any 
one man, that man would doubtless be Colonel George Nich- 
olas. 27 In speaking of the political unwisdom of adopting 
the ninth article a prominent historian of Kentucky makes the 

" Marshall: "History of Kentucky," Vol. 1, pp. 395, 414; L. Collins: "Historical 
Sketches of Kentucky," p. 44; Butler: "History of Kentucky," p. 207; Brown: "Political 
Beginninss of Kentucky," p. 227. Colonel Nicholas had imjniyirated from X'irj^inia in 1791, 
but the fame of his abilities and the record of his public services had preceded him. As a 
member of the Virginia Convention which had adopted the federal constitution, he had ably 
sustained debate against Patrick Henry and George Mason, and deser\'edly shared with 
James Madison the credit of carrying the vote that ratified that document. A list of the 
delegates to the convention is given in L. Collins: "Historical Sketches of Kentucky," p. 147. 

>« Brown: "Political Be'dnnings of Kentucky," p. 229. 

»» Ibid., p. 230. The following table represents the free and the slave population in 
1790 of each of the nine counties into which Kentucky was divided at that time and the votes 
cast in the constitutional convention two years later for and against slavery. 

SLAVE VOTES IN CONVENTION 

1790 WHITES SLAVES PER CENT. PRO-SLAVE ANTI-SLAVE 

Bourbon 6 ,929 908 13 2 3 

Fayette 14 ,626 3,752 25 2 3 

Jefferson 3 ,857 903 24 2 

Lincoln 5 ,446 1 ,094 18 3 2 

Madison 5 ,0.^5 739 15 4 1 

Mason 2 ,500 229 9 2 3 

Mercer 5,745 1,339 23 2 3 

Nelson 10 ,032 1 ,248 12 4 1 

Woodford 6 ,963 2 ,220 32 5 

Total 61,333 12,430 20 26 16 

United States Census: Population, 1870, pp. 31-33; L. Collins: "Historical Sketches 
of Kentucky," p. 147; Gilbert Imlay: "Western Territor>- of North America," p. 378 (map). 

•• Brown: "Political Beginnings of Kentucky," p. 230. 

" Marshall: "History of Kentucky," \'ol. 1, p. 414; Butler: "History of Kentucky," 
p. 207; Brown: "Political Beginnings of Kentucky," p. 228. Mr. Speed in the "Danville 
Political Club," p. 162, says that the influence of Nicholas in the convention has been over- 
estimated; that the convention was composed of strong men who thought and acted for them- 
selves. 



The First Attack Upon Slavery 17 

following comment: "And the unfortunate step was taken under 
the guidance of a man whose ability and uprightness can not be 
questioned, whose experience in affairs was large, and whose 
performances justified confidence. But Nicholas was not yet a 
Kentuckian. He had not yet learned the ways of the West, nor 
comprehended where the interests of the new commonwealth 
were different from what suited or seemed to suit Virginia and 
her people."^* 

Seven of the forty-five members of the convention were min- 
isters, of whom three, Bailey, Smith, and Garrard, were Baptists; 
three, Crawford, Swope, and Rice, were Presbyterians ; and one, 
Kavanaugh , was a Methodist. 2 9 Though David Rice resigned his 
seat in the convention before the final vote was taken, Harry 
Innes,3" elected to take his place, supported the emancipation- 
ists. The six ministers voted solidly against slavery, showing 
that the religious leaders were in accord in this matter, although 
none of the others seems to have taken as active a part in opposi- 
tion to it on the floor of the convention as did David Rice. 

The constitution of 1792 was not submitted to the people 
for ratification, but, had it been, there is no reason to doubt that 
article nine would have been accepted by popular vote. There 
were not more than 15,000 slaves in the state and the majority 
of the people, mostly immigrants from Virginia where slavery ex- 
isted and seemed to be profitable, did not appreciate the import- 
ance of the question. The new state had stood at the paiting of 
the ways and the way that was chosen was destined to lead it to 
the unhappy fate so ably foretold by David Rice. ^ 1 

" Brown: "Political Beginnings of Kentucky," p. 231. 

" Brown: "Political Beginnings of Kentucky," p. 230; Lewis Collins: "Historical 
Sketches of Kentucky," p. 147. 

'" Brown: "Political Beginnings of Kentucky," pp. 228-29. 

•' For attitude of the churches of Kentucky toward slavery before 1792, see the follow- 
ing chapter, pp. 19ff. 



ANTI-SLAVERY IN KENTUCKY 
1792-1800 



CHAPTER II 



The constitution of 1792 had scarcely gone into effect 
when it was assailed on all sides, i There was dissatisfaction 
with the method of electing the governor and the state sen- 
ators. 2 There were objections to the limitations placed upon 
local government and to the arbitrary powers given the sheriff. » 
Still another demand for constitutional reform came from the 
anti-slavery element, which was encouraged by the strong 
fight in 1792 and soon went forward with renewed efforts. ■* 

As was to be expected, the anti-slavery element found ready 
expression through the religious organizations of the state. 
The Baptists, the Presbyterians, and the Methodists, the lead- 
ing denominations in Kentucky, were the only denominations 
to take any considerable part in the slavery controversy before 
1850. The Friends, whose opposition to slavery is proverbial, 
although not so numerous in Kentucky as in the adjacent 
states, contributed indirectly to the cause of anti-slavery. The 
Roman Catholics, the Episcopalians, the Disciples (Christians), 
and the Cumberland Presbyterians did not figure largely in 
the slavery agitation. 

' For a number of years after the adoption of the constitution of 1792, the slave code 
of Virginia continued to be used in Kentucky. It was gradually superseded, however, by 
special laws, the first of which, regulating all dealings with and the method and procedure 
of the trial of slaves, were passed during the first session of the legislature. Littell: Vol. 
1, pp. 120. 157-8. Two years later, provisions were made for the regulation of the importation 
and the emancipation of slaves {Ibid., p. 246) and finally, in 1798, the several acts concerning 
slaves, free Negroes, Mulattoes, and Indians, together with a number of additional enactments, 
were consolidated into one code, which did not differ materially from the codes of Virginia 
and the other slave States. (Ibid., Vol. II, pp. 113-23). Although severe in many respects, 
its provisions were generally interpreted and applied very liberally. This was especially true 
of the law regulating voluntarj' emancipation, first passed in 1794, by which any person, by 
his last will or testament, or any other instrument in writing that was properly attested and 
approved in the county court by two witnesses was permitted to emancipate his slave or slaves. 
The court was given full power to demand bond and sufficient security of the emancipator 
for the maintenance of any slave that might be aged or infirm either in body or in mind in 
order to prevent his becoming a charge to the county, (/fci'd., p. 246f; Vol.11, pp. 119-20). 
This large discretionary power was exercised with great moderation and the provisions of the 
act liberally construed by the courts. The Supreme Court of Kentucky in 1829 decided 
that a slave might be emancipated by any instrument in writing; it was not even necessary 
that it be sealed and recorded, although it might be if the holder wished it. (2 J. J. Mar- 
shall, pp. 223ff). This decision was reaffirmed the following year. (4 J. J. Marshall, p. 104f.) 
> Carl Schurz: "Life of Henry Clay," Vol. 1, p. 27; Butler: "Historv of Kentucky." 
p. 280; The Mirror, Feb. 10, 1798. 

• R. II. Collins: "History of Kentucky," p. 61; The Mirror, Feb. 10, 1798. 

* Butler: "History of Kentucky," p. 280; Schurz: "Life of Henry Clay," Vol. 1, 
p. 27; The Mirror, March 24, 1798. 



Anti-Slavery in Kentucky — 1792-1800 19 

^ As early as 1788, the Baptist church took a stand on the 
anti-slavery question. ^ At the annual meeting in Goochland 
County, in this year, the subject was first introduced in the 
Baptist General Committee of Virginia, which embraced at 
this time the district of Kentucky. After being discussed at 
some length, the question was finally deferred till the next 
annual meeting, in order to give the members more time to 
deliberate, and to consult with the ministers and the churches 
in the various parts of the state. At this next meeting, which 
assembled at Richmond, it was resolved, "That slavery is a 
violent deprivation of the rights of nature, and inconsistent 
with a Republican Government, and therefore we recommend 
it to our brethren, to make use of every legal measure to extirpate 
this horrid evil from the land, and pray Almighty God that 
our honorable legislature may have it in their power to proclaim 
the Great Jubilee, consistent with the principles of good policy. "« 
This expression of sentiment is significant not only because 
the church took a strong and advanced position on the question, 
but also because it was one of the first explicit declarations in 
favor of the abolition of slavery issued by any religious society 
in the South. 

This attitude was reflected by the Baptists of the District 
of Kentucky when, in 1789, the Baptist Church at Rolling 
Fork, in Nelson County, propounded to the Salem Association, 
of which it was a member, the query, "Is it lawful in the sight 
of God for a member of Christ's Church to keep his fellow 
creatures in perpetual slavery?" The Association declined to 
answer the question on the ground that it was "improper to 
enter into so important and critical a matter at present." There- 
upon, the Rolling Fork Church, by an almost unamimous 
vote, withdrew from the Association. ^ At about the same time 
the church at Lick Creek, one of the strongest in the state, 
became divided on the question of slavery and was denied a 
seat in that Association until the difficulty should be settled. « 
At its annual meeting in 1791, the Elkhorn Association appointed 
a committee to draw up a declaration on the subject of "Re- 
ligious Liberty and Perpetual Slavery," and the following year 

» In the absence of a central organization to prescribe rules for the government of the 
entire body of members, the churches were grouped into associations through which certain 
general objects were accomplished. As it was customary for the associations to express 
opinions on matters of general interest, it is through them that we may expect to discover 
the attitude of the churches of this denomination toward the institution of slavery. 

• R. B. Semple: "History of the Virginia Baptists," p. 79; J. H. Spencer: "History 
of the Kentucky Baptists," Vol. 1, p. 183. 

' Spencer: "History of the Kentucky Baptists," Vol. 1. p. 184, Vol. 2, pp. 47, 48, 49. 

• Ibid., Vol. 1, p. 184. 



20 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 18^0 

adopted the report of the committee, pronouncing slavery in- 
consistent with the principles of the Christian religion. Inas- 
much, however, as the individual churches disapproved of the 
act, the Association recalled the memorial at a special meeting 
in December of the same year, a meeting probably assembled 
for that purpose.^ About the same time, John Sutton and 
Carter Tarrant organized in Woodford County a Baptist con- 
gregation avowedly opposed to slavery under the name of the 
New Hope Church. This, Taylor, in his "History of the Ten 
Churches," pronounces the first emancipation church in Amer- 
ica. ' ° 

For several years the question of slavery continued to 
agitate the individual churches of Kentucky, but the associa- 
tions assumed an attitude of non-interference and took no action 
on the matter. In many of the churches emancipation parties 
were formed, whose adherents declared slaveholding contrary 
to the principles of their religion and refused to commune 
with those practicing it. Because the Salem Association re- 
fused to pronounce slavery an evil. Mill Creek Church in Jeffer- 
son County withdrew in 1794. Under the leadership of Joshua 
Carmen and Josiah Dodge, the dissatisfied members of Cox's 
Creek, Cedar Creek, and Lick Creek Churches formed an in- 
dependent church, whose members refused to commune with 
slaveholders. ^ 1 Carmen and Dodge were soon joined by the 
venerable William Hickman, one of the pioneers of Kentucky 
and probably the most influential Baptist preacher in the state 
before 1800, likewise by John Sutton, Carter Tarrant, Donald 
Holmes, David Barrow, Jacob Griggs, George Smith, and other 
ministers. * ^ Many ministers openly preached emancipation 
from the pulpits, sometimes even in the presence of slaves. 
For this they were bitterly assailed, since it was maintained 
that the promulgation of such doctrines would tend to cause 
insubordination among the slaves and thereby disturb the 
peace of society. 

In the Methodist Episcopal Church the anti-slavery senti- 
ment was very pronounced. Its General Conference declared in 
1780 that slavery was "contrary to the law of God, man, 
nature, and hurtful to society; contrary to the dictates of con- 

• Spencer: "History of the Kentucky Baptists," Vol. 1, p. 184. 

"> John Taylor: "History of the Ten Churches, 1823," pp. 79-81. See also Spencer: 
"History of the Kentucky Baptists," Vol. 1, p. 186. 

" Spencer: "History of the Kentucky Baptists," Vol. 1, pp. 163, 184, 187; Vol. H, 
pp. 97, 107; David Benedict: "History of the Baptist Denomination," Vol. 11, p. 246. 

" Spencer: "History of the Kentucky Baptists," V'ol. 1, p. 18.S, Vol. H, pp. 152, 
186, 188; Taylor: "History of the Ten Churches," pp. 79-81. 



Anti-Slavery in Kentucky — i'/Q2-i8oo 21 

science, and pure religion, and doing that which we would not 
others would do unto us and ours.''^^ The Conference of 1784, 
which organized the new independent church in America, not 
only concurred in this opinion but by stringent regulations at- 
tempted to limit and control slave-holding within the church. A 
provision was incorporated in the discipline which required every 
slaveholder within the society, within twelve months after notice 
to "legally execute and record an instrument whereby he emanci- 
pates and sets free every slave in his possession." > ^ Slaves of a 
certain age were to be set free within a certain period, in such a 
way as to provide a gradual emancipation. These rules were to 
apply only in so far as they were consistent with the laws of the 
states in which the slaveholder resided, and the Virginia breth- 
ren, in particular, were given two years in which to consider the 
rules. 1^ While the Conferences of 1796 and 1800, largely as a 
result of the opposition of the southern churches, where legal 
obstruction to manumission prevented the enforcement of the 
strong rules regarding slavery, somewhat relaxed the discipline 
of the church in this respect, the continuing interest of the Meth- 
odists in furthering emancipation can not b^ doubted. ^^ The 
ministers in Kentucky not only attempted to avoid all connec- 
tion with slavery themselves but zealously endeavored to en- 
force the enactments of the General Conference on the subject. * ^ 
The Presbyterian Church, though pronounced in its oppo- 
sition to slavery, was more cautious than either the Methodists 
or the Baptists. Its General Assembly, in 1789, not only ex- 
pressed its disapproval of slavery but recommended that "meas- 



" A. H. Redford: "History of Methodism in Kentucky," Vol. 1, pp. 254-59; L. C. 
Matlack: "History of American Slavery and Methodism," pp. 14-31. 

'* The Conference of December 24, 1784, at Baltimore, Tigert, Bound Minutes, pp. 195. 

" Tigert.p. 217. In 1784 the Conference adopted the following resolution: "We 
view it as contrary to the Golden Law of God, on which hang all the law and the prophets, 
and the inalienable rights of mankind, as well as every principle of the Revolution, to hold in 
deepest debasement, in a more abject slavery than is perhaps to be found in any part of the 
world except America, so many souls that are capable of the image of God." 

■• "Journal of the General Conferences," Vol. 1, pp. 40-41; L. C. Matlack: "The Anti- 
Slavery Struggle and the Methodist Episcopal Church," pp. 58-74. 

While the Conference of 1800 negatived a proposition to exclude all slaveholders from 
the church, the ministers were instructed to consider the subject "with deep attention" and 
to communicate to the Conference "any important thought upon the subject" that might 
occur to them. The Annual Conferences were directed to draw up addresses for the gradual 
emancipation of slaves to the legislatures of those States in which no general laws had been 
passed for that purpose; and they were to appoint committees for conducting the business. 
All officers of the church and traveling preachers were to assist in securing signatures to these 
addresses. This plan was to be continued from year to year until the desired end had been 
accomplished. (Journal of the General Conferences, Vol. 1, pp. 40-41). The Methodist 
Episcopal Church was thus virtually organized into an agency for anti-slavery agitation. 

" H. C. Northcott: "Biography of Rev. Benjamin Northcott" (1770-1854), pp. 
88-89. 



22 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

ures consistent with the interests of civil society" be taken "to 
procure eventually the final abolition of slavery in America." ^^ 

In Kentucky, as elsewhere, the anti-slavery element in the 
church displayed considerable activity during the early years of 
the state. 

The Presbytery of Transylvania, which embraced the en- 
tire state of Kentucky, resolved in 1 794 that slaves belonging to 
the members of that body should be taught to read the Scrip- 
tures and should be prepared for freedom. i» Two years later it 
earnestly recommended that the people under its care "emanci- 
pate such of their slaves as they may think fit subjects for liberty, 
and that they take every possible measure, by teaching their 
young slaves to read, and giving them such other instruction as 
may be in their power, to prepare them for freedom." 20 

At this early date, the Presbytery was much disturbed by 
the opposition on the part of a considerable number of the mem- 
bers not only to the institution of slavery but to communion 
with slaveholders. The controversy became so serious that the 
matter was brought before the General Assembly of the church 
in 1795. That body appointed a committee composed of David 
Rice and Dr. Muir, ministers, and Robert Patterson, an elder, 
to draft a letter to the Presbytery on the subject. After con- 
siderable discussion, their report was adopted. The letter be- 
gins by stating that the General Assembly "hear with concern 
from your Commissioners that differences of opinion with re- 
spect to holding Christian Communion with those possessed of 
slaves agitate the mind of some among you and threaten divi- 
sions which may have the most ruinous tendency." The Pres- 
bytery was asked to use forbearance and moderation until the 
General Assembly should see fit to take a more decided stand on 
the question. 21 They were referred to the previous recommen- 
dation that the slaves be educated in such a way as to be prepared 
for a better enjoyment of freedom and that reasonable meas- 
ures be taken to procure the final abolition of slavery in Amer- 
ica. 2 2 Regardless of this act of the General Assembly, the sub- 

" S. G. Baird: "A Collection of the Acts, Etc., of the Supreme Judicatory of the 
Presbyterian Church," pp. 806-7. 

The action of the Synod of New York and Pennsylvania in 1787 on the question of 
slavery was adopted by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church two years later. 
In 1795 the action of the assembly of 1789 was reaffirmed and some rather drastic regulations 
adopted concerning manstealing. 

'» John Robinson: "The Presbyterian Church and Slavery," p. 123; Davidson: 
"History of the Presbyterian Church in Kentucky," p. 336. The Presbytery of Transyl- 
vania was formed in 1786 by the Synod of New York and Philadelphia. 

" Robinson: "The Presbyterian Church and Slavery," p. 124. 

" Baird: "A Collection of the Acts, Etc., of the Supreme Judicatory of the Presby- 
terian Church," pp. 807-808. 

" The subject of slavery came before the General Assembly in 1793 and asain in 1795, 
when the decision of that body on the subject in 1789 was reaffirmed. (Robinson: "The 
Presbyterian Church and Slavery," pp. 17-18.) 



J 



Anti-Sldvery in Kentucky — iyp2-i8oo 23 

ject was frequently brought before the Presbytery and on one 
occasion, 1796, the following resolutions were adopted: "That 
although the Presbytery are fully convinced of the great evil of 
slavery, yet they view the final remedy as alone belonging to the 
civil powers; and also do not think that they have sufficient 
authority from the word of God to make it a term of church com- 
munion. They, therefore, leave it to the conscience of the breth- 
ren to act as they may think proper ; earnestly recommending to 
the people under their care to emancipate such of their slaves as 
they may think fit subjects of liberty; and that they also take 
every possible measure, by teaching their young slaves to read 
and giving them such other instruction as may be in their power, 
to prepare them for the enjoyment of liberty, an event which 
they contemplate with the greatest pleasure, and which they 
hope, will be accomplished as soon as the nature of things will 
admit." 2 3 In 1797, the Presbytery again declared slavery to be 
a great moral evil, but, while they acknowledged that there 
might be exceptions, they were unable, even though they dis- 
cussed the subject for many years, to answer the question, "Who 
are not guilty of moral evil in holding slaves?" 24 

In 1800, the West Lexington Presbytery in a letter to the 
Synod of Virginia spoke of slavery as a subject "likely to occasion 
much trouble and division in the ciiurches in this country." It 
stated, also, that it was the opinion of a large majority of the 
members of the Presbyterian church in Kentucky that slave- 
holding should exclude from church privileges, but it hesitated 
to decide till directed by superior judicatories. 2 ^ This Presby- 
tery in 1802 prohibited church sessions from excluding slave- 
holders from communion until such exclusion should be sanc- 
tioned by the higher authorities. 2 e 

The ministers of the church seem to have been in general 
staunch emancipationists and a very large majority of the elders 
and members were equally opposed to the continuance of 
slavery. 2 7 The most conspicuous leader in the Presbyterian 
church during these years was the Rev. David Rice, whose 
activity in behalf of emancipation in the constitutional conven- 
tion of 1792 has been reviewed in the preceding chapter. He was 

" Davidson: "History of the Presbyterian Church in Kentucky," p. 336; Robin- 
son: "The Presbyterian Church and Slavery," p. 123. 

'« Davidson: "History of the Presbyterian Church in Kentucky," p. 337. 

'• Ibid., p. 337. The West Lexington Presbytery was formed in 1799. 

»• Ibid., p. 337. By 1802, the number of Presbyterians in Kentucky had so multiplied 
as to call for the organization of a Synod. Accordingly the Syiiod of Kentucky was formed, 
which was composed of three Presbyteries and thirty-seven ministers. 

" Robinson: "The Presbyterian Church and Slavery," p. 123. 



24 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

an implacable foe of slavery, never overlooking an opportunity 
to use his influence against the institution. To David Rice must 
be given much of the credit for the advanced position taken by 
the Presbyterians of Kentucky. 2 s 

In view of the prominent part played by the religious denom- 
inations in the life of the frontier, the significance of the attitude 
of the churches toward slavery can hardly be overestimated. 
The opposition to the constitution of 1792 and the effort to pro- 
vide compensated emancipation in 1799 must find their explana- 
tion in part in the attitude of the members of the frontier churches. 
During the years immediately following the constitutional 
convention of 1792, special efforts were made by David Rice 
and other anti-slavery leaders to gather their scattered forces 
into some kind of permanent organization in order that the 
various branches of their work might be carried on in a system- 
atic and efficient way. This difficulty had been met in the States 
along the Atlantic Coast by the formation of abolition societies, 2 » 
of which there were twelve in 1791. As a rule, their membership 
was very small and their work restricted to their individual 
localities. The increased opposition to the slave trade and the 
failure of Congress to legislate against it led them to widen 
the scope of their work. Accordingly delegates from the 
various local societies met in Philadelphia in 1794 and perfected 
a permanent national organization under the name of the 
"American Convention of Delegates of Abolition Societies." ^o 

The Kentucky anti-slavery workers followed the plans of 
the eastern societies. During the early part of 1795 they began, 
through the Rev. David Rice, a correspondence with William 
Rogers, a member of one of the abolition societies in Philadel- 
phia, concerning the organization of similar societies in Kentucky. 
In his reply Mr. Rogers stated that the Philadelphia society 
was "much pleased with your endeavors in promoting a similar 

" Bishop: "Outline of the Church in Kentucky, Containing the Memoirs of 
David Rice," p. 83. Rice's dying testimony in 1816 gave the final emphasis to his condem- 
nation of slavery, a feeling which he shared with many of his fellow clergy. "I have too much 
participated in the criminal and the great neglect of the souls of slaves. Though we live at 
the exDense of tliose unfortunate creatures, yet we withhold from them a great part of the 
means of instruction and grace — many, indeed, deprive them of all, so far as they can. This 
added to that of depriving them of the inalienable rights of libert\', is the crying sin of our 
country; and for this I believe our country is now bleeding at a thousand veins." 

" Before 1830 the term abolition was used to designate every plan for abolishing slavery, 
including gradual compensated emancipation. .-Vfter this time, due to the Garrisonian 
or modern abolition movement, it was used to apply only to immediate, uncompensated 
emancipation. 

•» "Minutes of the Proceedings of the First Meeting of the American Convention, 
1794," Pamphlet; M. S. Locke: ".'Knti-Slavery in America, 1619-1808," p. 101 ; A. D. Adams: 
"Anti-Slavery in America, 1X08-1831." p. 1.S4. There were only nine societies in the American 
Convention in 1794. In 1818 a new constitution was adopted and the name changed to 
"The American Convention for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery and Improving the Con- 
dition of the African Race." 



Anti-Slavery in Kentucky — i/'p2-i8oo 25 

institution in Kentucky, which, should it take place, will of 
course receive every possible aid from the society in this city." ^ * 
The Kentucky societies were organized as proposed, but 
almost nothing more is known about them. In the minutes of 
the American Convention of Delegates of Abolition Societies in 
1797, the Kentucky societies were referred to a number of times, 
although they were not represented in the convention. They 
appear, however, to have had some correspondence with the 
convention. 3 2 A correspondent in The Knoxville Gazette 
(Tennessee), January 23, 1797, in a call for a meeting of all those 
interested in the organization of an abolition society, mentioned 
the existence of two such societies in Kentucky, one in Phila- 
delphia, one in Baltimore, one in Richmond, and one in Winches- 
ter (Virginia) . The work of these societies was declared to be to 
relieve "such persons as are illegally held in bondage; to effect 
their relief by legal means alone without any intention to injure 
the rights of individuals, not to take negroes from their legal 
masters and set them free as some have vainly imagined; but 
by lawful means to vindicate the cause of such of the human 
race as are lawfully entitled to freedom either by mixed blood 
or by any cause." ^ 3 More liberal emancipation laws were 
advocated as well as the education of slaves as a means of "pre- 
paring them for freedom." ^4 

Nothing further has been found concerning the early Ken- 
tucky societies. They were doubtless originated through the 
influence of the Rev. David Rice for the purpose of advancing 
the cause of gradual emancipation, which was being extensively 
advocated in the state at that time, and their disappearance 
may be connected with the failure of the movement in the con- 
stitutional convention of 1799. They bear the distinction of 
having been the first abolition organizations west of the Appa- 
lachian Mountains, preceding by eighteen years those in both 
Ohio and Tennessee, ^s 

The eleventh article of the constitution of 1792 provided 
for a vote at the election of 1797, on the question of calling a 
convention to amend that instrument or to adopt a new one. 

" Draper MSS., Hist. Miscel.. 1. 

« "Minutes of the Proceedings of the Fourth Convention of Delegates, 1797," Pam- 
phlet. Societies from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia were 
represented in this convention and societies from Delaware, Rhode Island, and Kentucky 
•were referred to, pp. 37, 41. 

» The Knoxville Gazette, January 23, 1797. 

" Ibid. 

" Adams: "Anti-Slavery in America, 1808-1831," pp. 264-267, gives a list of 
abolition societies and the date of organization of each. The Kentucky societies were not 
known to her. No reference to them has been found in any secondary work. 



26 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 18^0 

If the vote in 1797 should be favorable, another was to be taken 
in 1798. 3 6 In both years more votes were cast for the convention 
than against it, and although there was some doubt as to whether 
or not "a majority of all the citizens in the state voting for 
representatives" had voted in the affirmative, 37 the legislature, 
being "ripe for a convention," » » ordered the election of delegates. 

In a pamphlet entitled "No Convention," which John 
Breckinridge 3 9 published, over the pen name of Algernon Sidney 
shortly before the election of 1798, he declares, "The eman- 
cipation of our slaves is said to be one of the objects for which 
the people wish to call a convention; and the better organization, 
or total destruction of the Senate, the other. 

"It must be acknowledged that the first reflects an encomium 
upon the wisdom, humanity and justice of our countrymen, 
that cannot be too much appreciated or too warmly applauded. 
It discovers the philosophy of the human mind marching on 
boldly to oppose tyranny and prejudice, and indicates an ap- 
proaching era when slavery shall be driven from our enviable 
country. But if a renovation in this particular be the object 
in view, you have surely mistaken the price necessary to carry 
so important a work into execution, as well as to organize or 
make any change in your constitution atall.* * *Yourslavesought 
to be free; but let us not liberate others at the probable ex- 
pense of our own freedom." ^ Though he attached considerable 
importance, in this pamphlet, to the slavery issue, his opposition 
to the convention was based mainly on the demand for the 
abolition of the Senate. ^ 1 

It is not apparent what may have been the relative import- 
ance attached by voters to these two issues in 1797, but it 
is clear that as the contests over the convention progressed the 
emancipation issue attracted increasing attention. Sidney and 

'• Littell: "Statute Laws of Kentucky," Vol. 1, p. 29. 

»' Marshall: "History of Kentucky," Vol. 2. pp. 257-258; R. H. Collins: "History of 
Kentucky," Vol. 2. p. 61; Butler: "History of Kentucky." pp. 280-281; The Mirror, February 
10, 24, March 28, 1798. 

In 1797, 5,446 of a total of 9,811 votes and in 1798, 8,804 of a total of 11,853 votes were 
cast for the convention. 

" Samuel Hopkins to John Breckinridge, December 8, 1798. Breckinridge Papers. 

" John Breckinridse (1760-1806), a Virginian by birth, was a member of one of the 
most influential Kentucky families. In 1798, as a member of the Kentucky Legislature, 
in collaboration with Thomas Jefferson, he drew up and himself introduced the famous "Ken- 
tucky Resolutions." From 1801 to 1805 he represented Kentucky in the United States Senate 
and from 1805 until his death in 1806 he was Attorney General in Jefferson's cabinet. 

The Breckinridge Papers, from which considerable material for this and other 
chapters was obtained, contains the papers of John Breckinridge, William Breckinridge, 
Robert J. Breckinridge, John Cabell Breckinridge and other members of the family. The 
author was given permission to examine this valuable collection, which is deposited in the 
Congressional Library, but which has not yet been opened for public use by the owner. Miss 
Sophonisba P. Breckinridge, of the University of Chicago. 

" Breckinridge Papers, 1798, pamphlet undated. 

" Ibid. 



Anti-Slavery in Kentucky — iyp2-i8oo 27 

his arguments were bitterly assailed in a hand bill, signed "Keil- 
ing,"4 2 which in turn was answered by Sidney in a most scathing 
article in the Kentucky Gazette. * ^ A lively exchange of hand 
bills and newspaper articles ensued, in which a number of people 
took part.** One of the hand bills, signed "Junius" and addressed 
to "The Electors of Franklin County," enthusiastically 
advocates a convention as a means to the reorganization of 
the Senate and to the securing of other reforms. The author 
manifests no desire for the abolition of slavery, but he admits 
that that subject was attracting more and more attention. ^^ 
Another advocate of the convention said, "The man of landed 
property is told that agrarian laws will be passed; and the 
slaveholder is alarmed by the fear of immediate emancipation." 
This he attributed to the enemies of the convention and added 
that no citizen had "brought forward a proposition for eman- 
cipation." He asserted also that no one desired "an immediate 
liberation of the slaves," but that many did favor a gradual 
compensated emancipation. He could see no occasion for alarm 
on the question, however, since any constitutional convention 
in Kentucky would be composed largely of slaveholders who, 
in case they should decide upon some plan of emancipation, 
could be depended upon to protect the slaveholders from 
monetary losses.*^ 

Breckinridge, however, was less certain of the slave- 
holders' safety. In a letter to Governor Shelby, March 11, 
1798, he displayed considerable uneasiness as a result of the 
wide-spread discussion by the general public and press of a 
"speedy emancipation of slaves upon some principle." He says 
further, "If they can by one experiment emancipate our slaves; 
the same principle pursued, will enable them at a second ex- 
periment to extinguish our land titles; both are held by rights 
equally sound."* ^ 

In view of his subsequent career, the connection of Henry 
Clay with the anti-slavery movement of this period deserves 
special consideration. It is probable that he received here the 
impressions that were to determine his course throughout the 
controversy. In 1798, at the age of twenty-one, he published 
over the signature "Scaevola" a series of articles addressed to 

" Breckinridge Papers, 1798, undated. 

" Kentucky Gazette, May 9, 1798. 

" A number of these hand-bills are to be found in the Breckinridge Papers for 1798. 

" Breckinridge Papers, dated May 1, 1798. 

'• Stewart's Kentucky Herald, April 17, 1798. This article was signed "Voter." 

" John Breckinridge to Gov. Shelby, March 11, 1798, Breckinridge Papers for 1798. 



28 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to i8jo 

the "Electors of Fayette County," ^s in which he discussed at 
length the importance of the slavery issue in the coming con- 
vention. -^^ In the number for April 25, he asserted that the 
convention was opposed by many because it was supported by the 
anti-slavery party. He pointed out forcefully the reasonable- 
ness and the advantages of gradual emancipation and declared 
that if the convention did not wish to abolish slavery it should 
at least remove the prohibiting clause from the constitution so 
that the legislature could take up the subject any time it saw 
fit to do so. The article closed with the following arraignment 
of slavery: "All America acknowledges the existence of slavery 
to be an evil which, while it deprives the slave of the best gifts 
of Heaven, in the end injures the master, too, by laying waste 
his lands, enabling him to live indolently, and thus contracting 
all the vices generated by a state of idleness. If it be this 
enormous evil the sooner we attempt its destruction the better. 
It is a subject which has been so generally canvassed by the 
public that it is unnecessary to repeat all the reasons which 
urge to a conventional interference."^" 

The result of these discussions was a larger majority for the 
convention in 1798 than in 1797. •"'i How far this may be an ex- 
pression of anti-slavery strength it is impossible to say, but doubt- 
less all anti-slavery men who voted favored the convention. 

When we come to the choice of delegates the anti-slavery 
sentiment emerges more clearly. In some counties, if we may 
trust statements made long afterwards, and by pronounced anti- 
slavery men, it became the chief issue, and candidates pledged 
themselves, if elected, to support or to oppose a gradual emanci- 
pation clause in the constitution.^- In others, the question was 
whether or not the owners of slaves should be compensated in 
case of gradual emancipation. It appears that the country peo- 
ple were becoming united against the town people, who generally 
supported emancipation. ^'^ In this situation the leaders in 
Fayette County, the political center of the state, and one of the 
principal slave-holding communities in it, laid plans "for the 

<» Calvin Colton: "Works of Henrv Clay," Vol. 1. pp. 209. 214; Schurz: "Life of 
Henry Clay," Vol. 1, p. 27. 

Henry Clay emigrated from Virginia to Kentucky in 1797. 

" Colton: "Works of Henrv Clay." Vol. 1. p. 209. 

" The Kentucky Gazette, April 25, 1798. 

" In 1797 for the convention 5,446 out of 9,.S14 votes were cast. 
In 1798 for the convention 8,804 out of 11.513 votes were cast. 

" William Birney: "James G. Birncy and His Times," p. 16; Speech of Robert J. 
Breckinridge in Reply to Speech of Robert Wickliffe, October 12, 1840, Breckinridge Papers. 
Robert J. Breckinriflue was a son of John Breckinridge. 

" George Nicholas to John Breckinridge, January 20, 1798. Breckinridge Papers 
for 1798. 



Anti-Slavery in Kentucky — iyp2-i8oo 29 

most independent and principled men amongst us to step for- 
ward and prevent mischief." -"^^ A meeting was called for Jan- 
uary 26, 1799, at Bryant Station, whose purpose was to formu- 
late a common policy and to nominate candidates to the conven- 
tion. With the avowed object o£ furnishing an example to other 
counties by enlisting the interest and securing the attendance 
of leading men, delegates were invited from the Militia Compa- 
nies and the religious societies of the county. ^ s Thus was formed 
a body commonly known as Bryant (Bryan's) Station Conven- 
tion, which "decided the destinies of Kentucky for that era."^^ 
Five subjects were proposed for the consideration of the con- 
vention: 1, "no emancipation either immediate or gradual;" 2, 
representation according to population; 3, a legislature of two 
houses; 4, the courts; 5, the compact with Virginia to be retained 
in the new constitution. ^^ 

The convention proved to be well attended ^^ and included 
the leading men in the county among whom were John Breckin- 
ridge, George Nicholas, and Daniel Logan. After nominating 
candidates, among them John Breckinridge, it drew up "a Dec- 
laration to be made by Convention Candidates," which provided 
that no man ought to be voted for as a member to that conven- 
tion who would not subscribe to five declarations, one of which 
was as follows: "I do declare that in case I am elected to the Con- 
vention, I will be decidedly opposed to an emancipation of the 
slaves, either immediate or gradual without paying to the owners 
thereof their full value in money, previous to such emanci- 
pation." ^9 While this declaration manifests no opposition to 
compensated emancipation it is fairly certain that the men back 
of it were antagonistic to any sort of emancipation. Since the 
anti-slavery forces were strong in Fayette County, it is not im- 
probable that the political leaders were forced to assume this 
conciliatory attitude. The declaration seems to have been a 
compromise and was so regarded in many sections of the state. 
While the Bryant Station Convention was often referred to both 



'< Samuel Hopkins to John Breckinridge. December 8, 1798. Breckinridge Papers for 
1798. 

" Stewart's Kentucky Herald, March 12, 1799. See also Breckinridge Papers for 1799. 

'• Speech of Robert J. Breckinridge***, 1840, p. 7; Daniel Logan to John Breckinridge, 
January 25, 1799. Breckinridge Papers for 1799. A hand-bill (Breckinridge Papers), signed 
"Voter" and addressed to the "Inhabitants of Fayette County" describes in detail the 
meeting of "The Bryant Station Convention." 

" Speech of Robert J. Breckinridge ***, 1840, p. 7. See also handbill. Ibid. 

•9 Stewart's Kentucky Herald, March 12, 1799. The attendance was estimated at be- 
tween 300 and 400. 

" Speech of Robert J. Breckinridge ***, pp. 7-8. 



30 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

as an anti-slavery and as a pro-slavery body.^o the information 
at hand seems to show that it was a moderately pro-slavery con- 
vention dominated by men who were more interested in prevent- 
ing radical action against slavery than in perpetuating the insti- 
tution. 

In the election of delegates to the constitutional convention 
a few weeks later, the Bryant Station candidates were successful 
and the leaders in Fayette County, particularly John Breckin- 
ridge and George Nicholas, were active in the selection of dele- 
gates elsewhere in the state. Efforts were made to bring the 
right men forward and these efforts appear to have met with a 
favorable response. ^ ^ 

The cause of the pro-slavery party was doubtless assisted 
by the passage in June and July, 1798, of the Alien and Sedition 
Acts, which in Kentucky as elsewhere aroused great opposition 
to the federal administration and resulted in November in the 
passage of the famous "Kentucky Resolutions." The importance 
of and the general interest in these measures affected the choice of 
delegates to the constitutional convention by bringing forward 
trusted leaders who had been temporarily set aside because of 
their pro-slavery inclinations. Local issues were now sub- 
ordinated to the desire to present a solid front to the aggres- 
sions of the national government. When in the midst of this 
excitement the elections for delegates to the convention were 
held, the conservative pro-slavery element was found to be in 
the majority. ^3 



"> See Breckinridge Papers for 1799; especially James Hopkins to John Breckinridge, 
January 27, 1799, and George Nicholas to John Breckinridge, February 16, 1799. See also 
Speech of Robert J. Breckinridge***, pp. 7f. 

The writer referred to above in Stewart's Kentucky Herald for March 12, 1799, 
said: "When you consider that the very Gentlemen that differed from you as to the expedi- 
ency of calling a Convention, and made every exertion to thwart your wishes are now the 
warm supporters of the project from Bryan's Station." 

•' Samuel Hopkins, of Christian County, in a letter to John Breckinridge, February 
4, 1799 (Breckinridge Papers, 1799), in a reply to a letter from Breckinridge inquiring about 
the sentiment in that county and asking him to announce Hopkins' candidacy there stated 
that he had complied with the request; however, he feared that his opponent, a Mr. Ewing, 
would be elected. He further stated that "the importance of the present era ought to be truly 
Estimated by every citizen — -this convention business, I like it not. — I hate experiments upon 
government." In a letter to Breckinridge dated July IS, 1799, he stated that he had been 
defeated in the convention election. He said, however, "I feel rejoiced that the disorganizers 
are ousted in the late elections." Breckinridge had also considerable correspondence with 
his political friends in Hardin County. In a reply to one of his letters, John Mclntyre said 
that the convention elections "ought to draw the attention of every man who has the good 
of his country at heart — at so critical a moment.*** Our liberties and property are likely to be 
exposed to ignorant and designing men." (Breckinridge Papers, February 10, 1799.) See 
also Ben Helm to John Breckinridge, February 17, 1799, and \V. E. Boxwell (Harrison County) 
to John Breckinridge, May 12, 1799. (Breckinridge Papers for 1799.) 

" In speaking of this election William Lewis in a letter to John Breckinridge, July 18, 
1799 (Breckinridge Papers for 1799), said: "I am pleased to hear that your convention will 
not effect an emanciiiation at this time, as it would be a wretched piece of policy in excluding 
all wealthy emigrants possessing that property from seeking an asylum in the State. They 
are certainly the most desirable emigrants, on account not only of the wealth they introduce, 
but their condition and polite manners — it is from those that your character as a State is to be 
formed — exclude this class from your citizens and what will the bottom be? A crude un- 
digested mass." See also Birncy: "James G. Birney and His Times," pp. 21-22. 



Anti-Slavery in Kentucky — iyp2-i8oo 31 

The Convention assembled July 22, 1799. Considerable 
time was devoted to slavery. ^ 4 The question of emancipation 
was raised during the early days of the session and, in general, 
the plans discussed, although differing in many particulars, 
provided for a slow and gradual emancipation. A certain date 
was to be fixed. All born before that date were to be slaves for 
life and all born after it were to be free at a specified age. It 
does not appear that any one believed in or advocated immediate 
emancipation.^^ The proposal to insert in the constitution a 
clause providing for gradual emancipation was finally decided 
in the negative. A proposal to place the power of providing 
for general emancipation in the hands of the legislature was then 
taken under consideration. This matter had been extensively 
discussed during the election of delegates and some of the anti- 
slavery men, including Henry Clay, were desirous of having 
the power of removing slavery placed in the hands of the legis- 
lature if it should prove impossible to adopt a constitutional 
provision for its ultimate extinction. ''s No change was made in 
the constitution in this respect. The power to extinguish 
slavery was not granted to the legislature, although Robert J. 
Breckinridge forty years later maintained that it was the inten- 
tion of the convention to do this.^^ The language of Article 
VII of the Constitution of 1799 is substantially the same as 
that of Article IX of the Constitution of 1792. The legislature 
could pass a law for the emancipation of slaves but only with 
the consent of the owner and with full compensation in money. ^ » 



" A few scattered printed reports including a manuscript copy of the constitution 
are in the Breckinridge Papers for 1799. 

•• Breckinridge Papers for 1799. Henry Clay in a speech in the U. S. Senate, Feb- 
ruary 7, 1839 (Annals of Congress, 1839, Vol. 7, p. 354), said: "Forty years ago the question 
was agitated in the State of Kentucky of a gradual emancipation of the slaves within its limits.* * * 
No one was rash enough to think of throwing loose upon the community, ignorant and 
unprepared, the untutored slaves of the State." 

•• The Kentucky Gazette, April 25, 1798. M. J. Howard during the early days of 
the convention sent a manuscript copy of the constitution to John Breckinridge for criticism. 
In a letter which accompanied it (Breckinridge Papers, undated), he said in regard to the 
above proposal, "As whatever might be here said, restricting or not restricting the Legislature, 
with regard to emancipation, would probably have but little effect, as the Body of the People 
have at all times, an indefeasible and inalienable Right to alter or abolish their Constitution 
of Civil Government, whenever they, or a majority of them, shall think fit, or necessary for 
their welfare, or benefit." 

" Speech of Robert J. Breckinridge * * *, p. 8. Mr. Breckinridge further asserted that a 
majority of the members of the convention adhered to the declarations adopted by the Bryant 
Station Convention and that they not only intended to give the Legislature a limited power 
to provide for general emancipation, but did give it full power to emancipate the post nati 
with or without compensation. Although Mr. Breckinridge had access to his father's papers 
and had met during his boyhood many members of the convention, his interpretation of the 
slave clause in the constitution whether right or wrong was not that given it by either the 
legislature or the people generally during the years following. 

•» The clause in the proposed constitution dealing with the importation of slaves caused 
considerable discussion. Some wished to allow free importations, while others urged strict 
constitutional restrictions. A third class desired to place the entire matter in the hands of 
the legislature. In this as in other points a compromise was agreed upon, by which the 
provision in the constitution of 1792 for a limited legislative control was adopted with an 
additional provision regarding the trial of slaves for felony. 



32 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to i8§0 

Similarly the constitutional provisions of 1792 in regard to 
bringing slaves into the state were repeated in the constitution 
of 1799. 

The exact strength of the anti-slavery element in the con- 
vention of 1799 is not known. "^ Henry Clay once said, in 
this connection, that "The proposition in Kentucky for gradual 
emancipation, did not prevail; but it was sustained by a large 
and respectable minority."''" And Robert J. Breckinridge in 
the pamphlet published in 1840 asserted that slavery was 
ingrafted on the constitution by "no great majority" and only 
"after a most violent conflict." ^i These statements are well 
sustained by the literature of the period. 

•» Mr. Birney in his "James G. Birney and His Times," p. 21, says: "If the convention 
could have been held in May, 1798, immediately after the election, Kentucky would have 
been made a free state and the causes of the civil war destroyed in the germ." This con- 
clusion was based on the number of so-called anti-slavery votes in favor of the convention 
in the elections of 1797 and 1798. But since a number of important questions, of which slavery 
was only one, were involved at that time, it does not follow that the anti-slavery element 
alone forced the call for the convention. The defeat of emancipation he attributed to the 
fact that local issues were eliminated by the national questions growing out of the passage 
by Congress of the Alien and Sedition Laws. Though there is no doubt that the anti-slavery 
strength was greatly weakened by these measures, nothing has been found to indicate even 
the probability that the majority of the population in either 1798 or 1799 favored emanci- 
pation. 

'» Colton: "Works of Henry Clay," Vol. 1, pp. 216-217. 

" "Speech of Robert J. Breckinridge ***," p. 7. By 1800 slavery had been abolished or 
plans of gradual emancipation adopted in the Northwest Territory and in all the states north 
of the Mason and Dixon Line, with the exception of New York and New Jersey, which followed 
in 1804. 



ANTI-SLAVERY IN KENTUCKY 
1800-1830 



CHAPTER III 



The emancipationists were indeed defeated in the consti- 
tutional convention of 1799 but they by no means accepted 
their defeat as final. On the contrary, they made attempts 
almost every year to secure the passage of a bill ordering that the 
sense of the people be taken on calling a new convention. ^ 
These bills frequently passed the House. Although they were 
designed to secure only the gradual, not the immediate, aboli- 
tion of slavery, 2 the pro-slavery men viewed with such un- 
easiness and alarm every attempt on the part of the anti-slavery 
minority to reopen the question in any form that the bills were 
always defeated in the Senate. Niles, in his Weekly Register, 
summed up the situation in these words: "In Kentucky, I am 
told by several gentlemen of high standing, there is so strong 
an opposition to slavery, that the chief slave-holders have long 
feared to call a convention to alter the constitution, though 
much desired, lest measures should be adopted that might 
lead to gradual emancipation." He then predicted that before 
many years Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri "would follow 
the lead of Pennsylvania and cease to be slaveholding states as 
well from principle as from interest." ^ 

Slavery was brought before the legislature in many other 
ways. Bills intended to encourage voluntary emancipation, 
to ameliorate the condition of the slave, and to secure the en- 
actment of more rigid importation laws were repeatedly in- 
troduced. The advocates of these measures declared openly 
that the purpose of such legislation was to prepare the state for 
gradual emancipation through a change in the constitution. ^ 

The question of slavery was brought before the people of 
Kentucky in 1819 and 1820 in connection with the discussions 
in Congress concerning the admission of Missouri into the 

|_ Col. W. F. Evans, in a speech in the House of Representatives of Kentucky, in 1838 
said: "From an examination of the Journal you will discover that the Bill has been intro- 
duced almost every year since the year 1802." (Maysville Eagle, February 10, 1838). See 
also Shelbyville Examiner, January 5, 1833. 

' Kentucky Reporter, February 17, 1823; Nov. 24, 1823; Nov. 22, 1824; Western 
Lummary, August 29, 1828; Genius of Universal Emancipation, August 30, 1828; The Argus, 
December 25, 1817; Maysville Eagle, December 16, 1827. 

• Niles" Weekly Register, Vol. 18, p. 27 (1820). 

* Kentucky Reporter, November 22, 1824; Argus, November 17, 1817. 



34 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

Union. As in other sections of the country, the subject received 
wide attention. While the people of the state generally followed 
Henry Clay in his demand for the admission of Missouri, there 
were numerous expressions of opinion and in a few instances 
resolutions adopted by mass meetings to the contrary. The 
fact that the controversy had no considerable influence upon 
the anti-slavery movement in Kentucky, but was usually 
treated as a political question, appeared clearly in the resolu- 
tions passed by the Kentucky legislature, which refrained 
"from expressing an opinion either in favor of or against the 
principles of slavery," but which was intent upon "preserving 
the State sovereignties in their present rights."^ 

It can not be said that the churches contributed much to 
the cause of emancipation in the first quarter of the century. 
The years 1800-1830 have been characterized by students of the 
anti-slavery movement as the period of stagnation and this 
was unquestionably true in so far as the attitude of the churches 
toward slavery was concerned. Conservati\^e treatment of 
questions arising from slaveholding was the rule and in this way 
the churches bear testimony to the fact that the liberalism of the 
Revolutionary period was rapidly declining. 

The action of the Methodist General Conferences of 1804 
and 1808 is much less pronounced in its opposition to slavery 
than that of the preceding Conferences.*' The Conference of 
1804 abandoned the plan adopted in 1800 of memorializing state 
legislatures, and three southern states, North Carolina, South 
Carolina, and Georgia, were expressly exempted from the rules 

» Niles' Weekly Register, Vol. 17, p. 344. The prevailing opinion was that expressed 
by the Louisville Public Advertiser, Decembers, 1819, when it said: "It appears that measures 
have been taken in New Jersey and the principal Eastern cities to prevent the introduction 
of slavery into Missouri. Though we have never been the advocate of slavery- in any form, 
we are sorry to discover that questions are to be urged, perhaps principles enforced in Congress 
which belong exclusively to the polity of the several States and the rejection or admission of 
which should be left to the State or States concerned. Missouri has obtained the requisite 
population — she demands the right of self government^to be admitted into the Union with all 
the privileges and immunities of her sister, Alabama.*** Neither the principles of humanity 
nor the letter nor spirit of the Constitution can, in our opinion, justify our Eastern brethren 
in the course they are now pursuing toward the people of Missouri. We cannot believe they 
have adopted this course from selfish or sordid motives. They cannot doubt the attach- 
ment of the Western people to the Union, and we trust they do not anticipate any dangerous 
innovation upon their rights or pursuits should we eventually predominate in the councils 
of the Nation. We must, therefore, attribute what we deem an improper interference in the 
affairs of Missouri to the want of information on the subject of slaver^-, as it really e.xists." 
The Western Monitor, January 18, 1820, said: "The people of Missouri claim, and we think 
justly, the privilege of being admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the other States, 
and of engrafting into their Constitution such provisions as they may choose; unrestrained 
except by the necessity of rendering it republican and consistent with the Constitution of the 
United States.* ** We deprecate as much as any of our Eastern brethren the existence of the 
evil which has been entailed upon us. But we deny the possibility of suddenly removing 
it by legislative acts. It is not now a question of whether it should be established in Missouri. 
It is there already and we hesitate not to say Congress cannot eradicate it.* * * We are decidedly 
of the opinion that Congress has no constitutional right to prescribe the conditions mentioned 
as we are equally well convinced that no good could possibly result from exercising the right 
if they possessed it." 

• See supra, pp. 20, 21. 



Anti-Slavery in Kentucky — 1800-18^0 35 

as to slavery. The Conference of 1808 went further. It voted 
to strike from the discipline all but the first two paragraphs 
of the section dealing with slavery. This removed for all time 
every syllable respecting slave-holding among private members. 
It must be said, however, that this action was due in no small 
degree to the numerous difficulties encountered by the General 
Conference in enforcing its decrees in the southern states where 
statutory enactments often conflicted with the rules of the 
General Conference. In some states even voluntary emanci- 
pation could be accomplished only by special action on the 
part of the legislature.'^ The Conference of 1824 amended 
the section on slavery for the last time until 1860, but the 
changes were unimportant; and by 1828 the unwillingness 
of the central authority of the church to take any action was 
so great that, although it still condemned slavery as an insti- 
tution, it tabled a resolution providing a method of dealing with 
the inhumanity of members toward their Negro servants. 
Reaction could go no further. « 

Notwithstanding the reluctance of the General Confer- 
ence to undertake the regulation of a matter fraught with 
so much danger to the integrity of the church, the Methodists of 
Kentucky appear to have maintained a commendable oppo- 
sition to the domestic slave trade, concerning which the Gen- 
eral Conference in 1808 instructed the Annual Conferences to 
"form their own regulations" 9, and likewise to slaveholding 
on the part of the officials of the church. In answer to the 
query, "What method shall be taken with those members of 
our society that shall enter into the slave trade?"the Western 
Conference, which embraced the region west of the Appala- 
chian Mountains, in 1808, instructed the circuit preachers 
to summon before the quarterly meeting all persons charged 
with buying or selling slaves with speculative motives and if 
the Conference should find upon examination that the charges 
were sustained the persons were to be expelled from the society. 

' The attitude of the General Conference toward action by the church on the subject 
of slavery is given by the Conference of 1816 as follows: "We most sincerely believe, and 
declare it as our opinion, that slavery is a moral evil. But as the laws of our country do not 
admit of emancipation without a special act of the legislature, in some places, nor admit of 
the slave so liberated to enjoy freedom, we cannot adopt any rule by which we can compel 
our members to hberate their slaves; and as the nature of the cases in buying and selling are 
various and complex, we do not think it possible to devise any rule sufficiently specific to 
meet them. But to go so far as we can, consistent with the laws of our country and the 
nature of things, to do away with the evil, and remove the curse from the Church of God." 
(Journal of the General Conferences, Vol. 1, p. 170.) 

" This summary is taken largely from a manuscript thesis prepared by Professor J. N. 
Norwood of Alfred University on "The Slavery Schism in the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
A Study of Slavery and Ecclesiastical PoUtics." Cornell University Library. 

• Journal of the General Conferences, Vol. 1, pp. 44, 60, 93, 170. 



36 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

This action is representative of the attitude of the Methodists 
toward the domestic slave trade throughout the period.'" 

In Kentucky there was no relaxation from the rule forbid- 
ding ministers to hold slaves. Peter Cartwright, for fifty years 
a presiding elder in this region, testified that "In Kentucky 
our rules of discipline on slavery were pretty generally enforced, 
and especially on our preachers, traveling and local. Whenever 
a traveling preacher became the owner of a slave or slaves, he 
was required to record a bill of emancipation, or pledge himself 
to do so; otherwise he would forfeit his ministerial office. And 
under no circumstances could a local preacher be ordained 
a deacon or an elder if he was a slaveholder, unless he gave the 
church satisfactory assurances that he would emancipate at 
a proper time." ' ' 

The course of the Presbyterian Church with respect to 
slavery in Kentucky was not substantially different from that 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The General Assembly 
of the Presbyterian Church gradually receded from the position 
adopted in 1795, 12 until, in 1816, it merely pronounced slavery 
a "mournful evil" and "a gross violation of the most precious 
and sacred rights of human nature." After that, it became 
increasingly evident that the denomination was to rely upon 
words rather than deeds. * ^ The successive General Assemblies 
pointed with pride to former utterances against slavery and 
apparently considered them sufficient to satisfy the most zealous 
reformer while the enforcement of existing regulations became 
more and more lax as slavery took a firmer grip upon the south- 
ern states and as hostile legislation made their enforcement 
more difficult. There were, however, occasional exceptions. 
Thus in 1809 the session of the Concord Church (Kentucky) 
suspended a member for exposing for sale at public auction a 
Negro boy, and upon appeal to the Synod of Kentucky the act 
was affirmed. * ^ 



" Peter Cartwright: "Fifty Years a Presiding Elder," p. 53f. See also Bishop As- 
bury's Journal, Vol. 3, p. 290; Redford: "History of Methodism in Kentucky," Vol. 2, p. 37. 

" "Autobiography of Peter Cartwright, The Backwoods Preacher," p. 195. See 
also, Northcott: "Biography of Benjamin Northcott," p. 89. In a few communities in 
Kentucky attempts were made to enforce rigidly all the rules of the church regarding slavery. 
The most important instance was that of the Hartford Circuit (North Central Kentucky), 
which was continually agitated by the subject from 1804 to 1825. (Redford: "History of 
Methodism in Kentucky," Vol. 1, p. 260f.) 

'• See supra, pp. 21-24. 

" Baird: "Collection of Acts, Etc. * * * of the Presbyterian Church," pp. 809ff. 

The General .Assembly in 1816 also directed slaveholders "to continue and increase 
their exertions to effect a total abolition of slaver>-," with "no greater delay than a regard to 
the public welfare demands," and recommended that if a "Christian professor in our com- 
munion shall sell a slave who is also in communion with our Church" without the consent 
of the slave, the seller should be suspended till he had repenteti and made reparation. 

'« Robinson: "Presbyterian Church and Slavery," p. 53. The Synod of Kentucky 
was established in 1802. 



Anti-Slavery in Kentucky — i8oo-i8jo 37 

The period is noteworthy in respect to the awakened in- 
terest in the education of the slaves, in which the Presbyterians 
played a considerable part. As early as 1809, the Synod of 
Kentucky directed the Presbyterians to take such action "as 
to them might seem most prudent" to secure the religious 
instruction of the slaves and also the humane and Christian 
treatment of them. ^ ^ It does not appear that much was 
accomplished for a few years after this action was taken; but, 
in 1825, a renewed interest in the welfare of the slaves was dis- 
played in the Synod ^ ^ and the matter was also frequently men- 
tioned in the Western Luminary, the Presbyterian paper of 
the state. Thereupon, many ministers for the first time held 
special meetings for the slaves and organized schools for their 
religious instruction. ^ ^ This was thought to be necessary 
both for an appreciation of the Christian religion and as a prep- 
aration for freedom. In the following year (1826) fifteen 
Presbyterian schools for the people of color were reported to 
the annual meeting, i^ From this date until the end of the 
slavery period the Presbyterians of the state displayed an ever- 
increasing interest in the general welfare of the slave population. 

The records of the Baptist churches of Kentucky revealed 
to a far greater extent the local contests that were being waged 
by certain bold spirits in behalf of anti-slavery. This was to 
be expected in view of the absence of a centralized government 
in the Baptist church and in view of the greater opportunity 
thus afforded local controversies to find expression in the associa- 
tions. We have seen that at a very early day there were dis- 
sensions among the Kentucky Baptists ^ ^ and these dissensions 
presently became so acute that a number of associations en- 
deavored to prevent the discussion of the question of slavery 
in the pulpit, ^o In this the associations were assuming the 
conservative part played by the central authorities in the 
Methodist Episcopal and Presbyterian churches. 

The Elkhorn Association in 1805 resolved that "this Asso- 
ciation judges it improper for ministers, churches or Associations 

" Robinson: "Presbyterian Church and Slavery," p. 53. 

'• Davidson: "History of the Presbyterian Church in Kentucky," p. 338. 

" Ibid. See also, John Breckinridge to Robert J. Breckinridge, December 11, 1827 
(Breckinridge Papers for 1827). He states that it is his wish that an acre of ground be set 
aside on his tract for the African Church. 

'• Davidson: "History of the Presbyterian Church in Kentucky," p. 338. See also 
the Genius of Universal Emancipation, Vol. 7, pp. 158, 140; Vol. 8, pp. 47, 172, 173, and the 
files of the Western Luminary for that period. 

'• See supra, pp. 19ff. 

" Spencer: "History of the Kentucky Baptists," Vol. 1, p. 184; Vol. 2, pp. 17,27, 
120, 235. The most notable instances were those in the Elkhorn, Bracken, Cumberland, 
and North District Associations. 



38 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 18^0 

to meddle with emancipation from slavery, or any other polit- 
ical subject; and as such we advise ministers and churches to 
have nothing to do therewith in their religious capacities." 21 
Similarly the Cumberland Association in 1815 in answering 
the query, "Is it right to uphold hereditary and perpetual 
slavery?" made the following reply: "We conceive that all 
nations, by nature, have a right to equal freedom. But as we 
are involved, in our nation, with hereditary slavery, we think 
it would be best to wait for the dispensation of Providence, and 

pray to God for the happy year of their deliverance to com- 
mence." 22 

The acts of these associations did not check the agitation 
as had been expected, but only tended to increase and inten- 
sify it. In October, 1805, the Bracken Association brought 
five charges before the North District Association against the 
Rev. David Barrow, the ablest preacher in the body, which 
pertained to his sentiments on the subject of slavery. The 
North District Association, however, accepted his explanations 
and apologies. 2 3 This action was not satisfactory to a number 
of the churches that had determined to secure his expulsion. 
Consequently the matter came before the Association again in 
October, 1806, when he was again charged with "preaching the 
doctrines of emancipation to the hurt and injury of the brother- 
hood." 2 4 Mr. Barrow refused to alter either his mode of 
preaching or his attitude toward slavery, whereupon he was 
publicly expelled from the Association, and a committee was 
appointed to bring the matter before the church at Mount 
Sterling, of which he was a member. ~ ^ This action was annulled 
and revoked in the following year after three churches and two 

" Spencer: "Histor>' of the Kentucky Baptists," Vol. 2, p. 17. 

" Ibid., Vol. 2, p. 235. 

" The anti-slavery agitation in the Baptist Church in Kentucky is discussed in Rev. 
David Benedict's "History of the Baptist Denomination" (1813), Vol. 2, pp. 231-2, 236, 245ff. 
Benedict spent several months during 1810 and 1811 visiting the various churches and associa- 
tions of Kentucky. The subject is more fully discussed by tiie Rev. David Barrow in a pamph- 
let published in 1808. entitled, "Involuntary, Absolute, Hereditary Slavery Examined on the 
Principles of Nature. Reason, Justice and Scripture," in which he attempted to vindicate his 
course in respect to slavery. This pamphlet of fifty pages is written in a dignified style and 
shows the author to have been a man by no means deficient in ability, either natural or ac- 
quired. A copy of this exceedingly rare and valuable pamplUet is in the Cornell University 
Library. On the title page is found the interesting announcement that "This pamphlet is 
not to be sold, but given away." It contains perliaps the fullest materials regarding anti- 
slavery in the Baptist Churches of Kentucky down to 1808. Spencer, in his "History of the 
Kentucky Baptists," relies largely on these two sources for his material. 

»< David Barrow: "Involuntary, Absolute, Hereditary Slavery Examined on the 
Principles of Nature, Reason, Justice and Scripture." See also Spencer: "History of the 
Kentucky Baptists," \'ol. 2, p. 120. 

" Barrow: "Involuntary, Absolute. Hereditarj- Slaverv'***," pamphlet. See also Spen- 
cer: "History of the Kentucky Baptists," Vol. 1. p. 186; Vol. 2, p. 120. 



4 



Anti-Slavery in Kentucky — 1800-18^0 39 

ministers had withdrawn from the Association; but the seceders 
refused to renew their former relations. 2 e 

The expulsion of Barrow resulted in the withdrawal of 
ministers and churches from nearly every association in Kentucky 
and in the formation of Emancipation Baptist churches, which 
either excluded slaveholders or denied them the right of com- 
munion. 2 7 Under the leadership of David Barrow and Carter 
Tarrant, an association was formed embracing part of these 
churches in the north central part of the state. The first 
meeting of this new association was held in August, 1807, 
with eleven ministers and nineteen laymen in attendance's 
Another meeting was held the following month, when a per- 
manent organization was effected under the name of The 
Baptized Licking Locust Association, Friends of Humanity. '^ 

The purpose of this Association can best be learned from the 
consideration of eleven queries discussed at this meeting. The 
query, "Can any person be admitted a member of this meeting, 
whose practice appears friendly to perpetual slavery?" was 
answered in the negative. To the query, "Is there any case 
in which persons holding slaves may be admitted to member- 
ship in the church of Christ?" the answer was, "No; except in 
the following, viz. — 1st. In the case of a person holding young 
slaves, and recording a deed of their emancipation at such an 
age as the church to which they offer may agree to. 2nd. In 
the case of persons who have purchased in their ignorance and 
are willing that the church shall say when the slave or slaves 
shall be free. 3rd. In the case of women, whose husbands are 
opposed to emancipation. 4th. In the case of a widow who 
has it not in her power to liberate them. 5th. In the case of 
idiots, old age, or any debility of body that prevents such slave 
from procuring a sufficient support." ^o The answer to another 
query declared that no member was to purchase any slave 
or slaves except with a view to ransoming them from perpetual 
slavery, and then only after the approval of the church had been 
obtained. The association then declared that their ideas of 



'• Barrow: "Involuntary, Absolute, Hereditary Slavery***," pamphlet. Spencer: "His- 
tory' of the Kentucky Baptists," Vol. 2, p. 120. 

" Barrow: "Involuntary, Absolute, Hereditary Slavery ***," pamphlet. Benedict: "His- 
tory' of the Baptist Denomination," Vol. 2, p. 245. 

" Benedict: "History of the Baptist Denomination," Vol. 2, p. 247. See also Spen- 
cer: "History' of the Kentucky Baptists," Vol. 1, p. 186. It is a significant fact that Barrow's 
pamphlet was dated August 27, 1807, although it did not appear in print until the following 
year. 

» Benedict: "History of the Baptist Denomination," Vol. 2, p. 247. See also 
Spencer: "History of the Kentucky Baptists," Vol. 1, p. 186. This association received 
its name from the Licking Locust Church in the northern part of the state, which was con- 
sidared the mother church among the emancipation churches of Kentucky. 

» Benedict: "History of the Baptist Denomination," Vol. 2, p. 247. 



40 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

slavery had occasioned no alteration in their view of the doc- 
trine of the Gospel. 3 1 

The emancipating Baptists or the Friends of Humanity, 
as they were commonly called, had, previous to the formation 
of the association, consistently refused to commune with slave- 
holders. They had opposed slavery both in principle and in 
practice, as being a "sinful and abominable system, fraught with 
peculiar evils and miseries which every good man ought to 
abandon and bear his testimony against." They endeavored 
to effect in the most prudent and advantageous manner for 
both slaves and their owners the general and complete emanci- 
pation of the Negro race in America. ^ ~ 

We have no means at present of knowing the number of 
preachers or churches that went into the organization in 1807. 
Benedict estimates their strength at the time of the organization 
of the society at twelve ministers, twelve churches, and three 
hundred members. ^ 3 

Notwithstanding the zeal for anti-slavery which charac- 
terized the organization of the Friends of Humanity, the dozen 
years of their existence exhibited the same relaxation that 
was noticeable in the large religious bodies. At their second 
meeting during the latter part of 1807 at the New Hope Meeting 
House, one of the first emancipating Baptist churches in the 
state, of which Carter Tarrant was pastor, they resolved "that 
the present mode of association or confederation of churches 
in their relation to slavery is unscriptural and ought to be laid 
aside." 3 4 Thereupon a number of the members acting inde- 
pendently of the churches proceeded to organize an anti-slavery 
society called the Kentucky Abolition Society. ^ s This organ- 
ization did not replace the Friends of Humanity but merely 
took over the anti-slavery work of the association. The churches 
as before refused to commune with slaveholders. 3 e 

Through David Barrow, the Friends of Humanity, in 1810, 
began a correspondence with the object of uniting the emanci- 
pating churches of Kentucky with the Miami Baptist Associa- 
tion of Ohio, which also refused to commune with slaveholders. 
Their overtures were rejected on the ground that the Kentucky 



" Benedict: "History of the Baptist Denomination," Vol. 2. pp. 247-248. 

" Benedict: "History of the Baptist Denomination," Vol. 2, pp. 245-246, 248, 229, 
234: Z. F. Smith: "History of Kentucky," p. 368. 

" Benedict: "History' of the Baptist Denomination," Vol. 2, p. 545. 

•« Ibid.. Vol. 2, p. 248. 

■» See below, pp. 42ff. 

•• Benedict: "History of the Baptist Denomination," Vol. 2, p. 248. See also 
Spencer: "History of the Kentucky Baptists," Vol. 1, pp. 186-189. 



Anti-Slavery in Kentucky — 1800-1830 41 

emancipators had compromised their position by admitting 
slaveholders to the communion table under certain conditions. 3 7 
Two years later, Benedict said that the "zeal of the Emancipators 
has in some measure abated, and of course they are less opposed; 
and it is hardly probable that any lasting effect will be produced 
by their means. Their leading maxims are approved of by 
many who have not united with them, but who still hold slaves 
with many scruples respecting its propriety."3 8 In 1816, 
they met at Lawrence Creek meeting house in Mason County 
under the name of the Association of Baptists, Friends of 
Humanity. Six churches were represented. By this time, a 
manifest tendency to "open communion" and other signs of 
decay were exhibited. The organization kept up a feeble 
existence until a few months after the death of Barrow, in 
1819, when it was dissolved. ^ » From this date until the division 
of the church in 1845 into the Northern and Southern branches, 
the Kentucky Associations maintained the same attitude that 
they had held previously, namely, that of non-interference 
in the question of slavery, regarding it as a political issue outside 
of the jurisdiction of the church. 

It is difficult to determine the exact influence of the eman- 
cipating Baptists on the anti-slavery movement in the Baptist 
church and on the movement in the state as a whole. While 
their activites greatly disturbed the Baptist churches in Ken- 
tucky for a period of more than thirty years, they kept the 
evils of slavery before the people and doubtless contributed to 
the cause of emancipation. In any event they furnished an 
interesting protest against the position adopted by the regular 
Baptist associations. 

A number of prominent men were associated with the 
emancipating churches at different times during their exist- 
ence. Revs. James Garrard, afterwards governor of the state, 
Ambrose Dudley, and William Hickman for a time actively 
supported the movement. ^<> Carter Tarrant, one of the most 
active and influential of the emancipators, wrote a history of 
the Association, which was published shortly before his death 
in 1815.4 1 But by far the most conspicuous anti-slavery 
leader in the Baptist Church, and one who did more than any 
other person to perfect the organization of the scattered eman- 

" A. H. Dunlevy: "History of the Miami Baptist Association," p. 49. 

«• Benedict: "History of the Baptist Denomination." Vol. 2, pp. 249-250. 

" Spencer: "History of the Kentucky Baptists," Vol. 1, p. 186. 

" Si>encer: "History of the Kentucky Baptists," Vol. 1, p. 187. 

«» Ibid., Vol. 1, pp. 189-190. 



42 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

cipation churches and to hold them together in the society of 
Friends of Humanity, was the Rev. David Barrow. * 2 From 
1808 until his death in 1819, he was also actively associated 
with the Kentucky Abolition Society, serving for a number of 
years as its president. Perhaps no minister of the Baptist 
Church in Kentucky enjoyed the confidence and esteem of 
his brethren and of the people generally in a higher degree than 
did Mr. Barrow. They frequently spoke of him as the "wise 
man." He was by far the most distinguished and the ablest 
preacher among the emancipating Baptists and without any 
exception the most gifted writer among the early Baptist min- 
isters of Kentucky. 4 3 

In summarizing the attitude of the churches of Kentucky 
toward slavery in the first quarter of the century it is to be 
observed that the churches reflected very clearly the changing 
point of view. As slavery became more firmly rooted in the 
social, economic and political life of the people, opposition became 
less popular and seemed to offer less hope of success. To assume 
that the existence or non-existence of slavery was a political 
and not a religious matter was therefore a safe and reasonable 
position. It was perhaps more easily assumed because many 
of those who opposed this policy, despairing of overcoming it 
and desiring to free themselves from the evils of a slave society, 
moved into the free territory north of the Ohio.^^ Thus the 
radical element in the churches was weeded out. 

We have seen that one of the results of the movement 
conducted by the emancipating Baptists was the formation 
in 1808 of the Kentucky Abolition Society, the first distinctly 
anti-slavery organization in the state after the dissolution of 
the early anti-slavery societies in 1797.^5 fhe Kentucky Abo- 
lition Society, while composed largely of members of the Baptized 
Licking Locust Association, Friends of Humanity, embraced 
also a considerable number of anti-slavery advocates from other 
religious denominations of the state. At their first meeting 
a constitution was adopted and a permanent organization 

♦' Barrow was a native of Virginia and a Revolutionary soldier. In 1 798 he removed 
to Montgomery County, Kentucky, where he spent the remainder of his life. 

" Benedict: "History of the Baptist Denomination," Vol. 2, pp. 245-251, 225. See 
also Spencer: "History of the Kentucky Baptists," Vol. 1, pp. 193-197. 

" Benedict: "History of the Baptist Denomination," Vol. 2, p. 261; Dunlevy: "His- 
tory of the Miami Baptist Association" (Ohio), p. 132, 159; Birney: "James G. Birney and 
His Times," p. 164; Bishop: "Outline of the Church in Kentucky," p. 144. Bishop 
speaks of six Presbyterian congregations under the leadership of the Rev. ArmstronR and 
Fulton who had moved into Indiana territory in order to free themselves from the evils of 
slavery. In a number of instances Methodist and Baptist congregations, together with their 
ministers, for similar reasons moved from Kentucky. 

" The Baptized Licking Locust Association, Friends of Humanity, though a religious 
body, did the work of an ordinary anti-slavery society and might be properly termed one. 



Anti-Slavery in Kentucky — 1800-1830 43 

effected. The purposes and work of the society which every 
member pledged himself to further were grouped under the 
following heads :4^ 

1. To pursue such measures as would tend to the final 
constitutional abolition of slavery. 

2. To appoint persons to prepare sermons, orations, and 
speeches on slavery which were to be delivered at given times and 
to publish such of them as the annual meeting might desire. 

3. To look after the interests of free Negroes and mu- 
lattoes and to inculcate morality, industry, and economy among 
them. This was to be accomplished largely by means of edu- 
cation. 

4. To ameliorate the condition of slaves by every means in 
their power according to the constitutional laws of the state. 

5. To seek for justice in favor of such Negroes and mu- 
lattoes as were held in bondage contrary to the constitutional 
laws of the commonwealth. 

6. To seek to secure the constitutional abolition of the 
domestic slave trade. ■^^ 

The range of activities thus set forth was a wide one ; while an 
aggressive spirit was displayed, it is important to note that it 
was not a radical one. This position was clearly set forth in 
the constitution as follows: "Slavery is a system of oppression 
pregnant with moral, national and domestic evils, ruinous to 
national tranquility, honor and enjoyment, and which every 
good man wishes to be abolished, could such abolition take place 
upon a plan which would be honorable to the state, safe to the 
citizen and salutary to the slaves." ^^ 

The permanent plan of organization provided for auxil- 
iary branches or local chapters to be formed in different parts of 
the state. Each of these was to send delegates to the annual 
meeting on the basis of its membership. The organization 
of both the state and the local societies was, as a rule, very simple. 
It provided for a president, vice-president, secretary, and treas- 
urer as regular officers and usually one or more committees. 
Annual meetings of the state society were to be held, at which 
the interests of the organization as a whole were to be considered. 
Memorials and petitions were to be sent to the officials of the 

" In the Abolition Intelligencer and Missionary Magazine, Vol. 1, p. 81, is given a 
history of the organization and growth of the Kentucky Abolition Society to 1816. For the 
organization of the Society, see also Benedict: "History of the Baptist Denomination," 
Vol. 2, p. 248. 

" Abolition Intelligencer* * *, Vol. 1, No. 6, p. 81. The Constitution is pubUshed in full 
in this number. Bimey: "James G. Birney and His Times," p. 24. 

" Abolition Intelligencer***, Vol. 1, p. 81. 



44 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

state and nation when it should be deemed advisable; addresses 
giving information on the subject of slavery were to be published 
from time to time and the general objects of the society were 
to be furthered in every possible way. The auxiliary branches 
were also to hold regular meetings, some as often as once a month, 
to promote the objects of the state society in that vicinity as 
well as the objects of the local chapter; these objects differed 
in the different parts of the State, and a few instances have 
been found in which a local society even sent addresses to the 
State legislature or to Congress. ^^ 

The number of members and the number of branches 
comprising the Kentucky Abolition Society in 1808 or the years 
immediately following are not known. Most of the ministers 
associated with the Friends of Humanity became members 
of the new organization and influenced many of the members 
of their churches to do likewise. 5° The membership was 
augmented by others who had not been connected with the 
Baptist church but were ready to assist in every way possible 
in securing the abolition of slavery. ^^ 

The efforts of the Kentucky Abolition Society soon attracted 
considerable attention and incurred severe criticism. The 
members were repeatedly accused, as the Friends of Humanity 
had been before them, of talking against slavery and slave- 
holders in the hearing of, and even to, "multitudes of ignorant 
Negroes," who might "pervert the most proper reasonings to 
improper purposes." ^ 2 xhe society was not discouraged by this 
opposition. It issued a circular in which its aims were set forth 
and the objections answered, ^^ and thereafter for several years, 
other circulars reviewing the progress of its work and outlining 
its plans for the future appeared. 

The annual meeting of 1815 displayed an unusual amount 
of activity. A number of auxiliary branches had recently been 
established in various parts of Kentucky ^^ and the constitution 

«• Abolition Intelligencer***, Vol. 1, No.6, p. 81; Genius of Universal Emancipation, 
Vol. 7. No. 165. p. 194. 

" The Friends of Humanity numbered about 300 in 1808. 

" Draper MSS., Hist. Miscel. 1. It appears from the manuscript letter of William 
Rogers, of Philadelphia, March 31, 1795, to the Rev. David Rice, that the Baptists of Kentucky 
refused to aflSliate in any great numbers with the societies that were formed during the latter 
part of the century. That movement was originated by members of the Presbyterian Church 
and received most of its support from that denomination, while the movement of 1808 began 
in the Baptist Church as a result of the peculiar circumstances which have been described. 

" Benedict: "History of the Baptist Denomination," Vol. 2, p. 246. 

" Abolition Intelligencer * * *, Vol. 1, p. 84. In this circular it was stated that, "We, as 
an infant Abolition Society in this State, have been ungenerously represented as a dangerous 
body of citizens forming combinations against the government, raising money for our own 
emolument, blending the church and the world together * * *." 

" Abolition Intelligencer ***, Vol. 1, No. 6; Genius of Universal Emancipation, Vol. 1, 
p. 156. 



Anti-Slavery in Kentucky — 1800-18^0 45 

of 1808 was now amended to meet the needs of the expanding 
order, but without altering the avowed purpose "to bring about 
a constitutional and legal abolition of slavery in this Common- 
wealth." ^^ A memorial was sent to the legislature of Kentucky- 
describing the nature and the purposes of the organization and 
asking for an act of incorporation. The petition was brought 
before the house of representatives by Mr. Daniels, who urged 
that it be granted. ^ ^ No action, however, appears to have been 
taken on the matter. A memorial signed by David Barrow as 
president and Moses White as secretary was sent also to the 
House of Representatives of the United States setting forth the 
deplorable condition of the free people of color. It asked that 
a suitable territory be laid oflf as an asylum for all Negroes and 
mulattoes emancipated or to be emancipated within the United 
States and that such financial assistance be granted them as 
their needs might demand.^'' Upon this an adverse report was 
made the following year by the Committee on Public Lands. ^ s 
In 1821, the society, which had kept up a correspondence 
with like societies in other parts of the country, s» resolved 
to widen the scope of its activities. The small number of papers 
which would allow the opponents of slavery to set before the 
people the arguments against the system was one of the 
greatest difficulties that the anti-slavery workers generally had 
to contend with, since the columns of the regular newspapers, 
especially in the states south of the Mason and Dixon Line, 
were as a rule closed to all anti-slavery discussions. The Ken- 
tucky Abolition Society, therefore, determined to establish 
at Shelbyville a semi-monthly anti-slavery paper under the 
editorship of the Rev. John Finley Crowe. By way of pros- 
pectus, proposals enumerating the principles of the society, 
with extracts from its constitution, were sent to various peri- 
odicals for pubHcation.6 The first number of the paper, 

" Genius of Universal Emancipation, Vol. 1, p. 156. Lundy in this number said that he 
had been informed that there were but six or seven members of the society in 1815. The language 
of the preamble to the Constitution adopted at that date proves the statement to be incorrect. 
The six or seven members might have been confused with the number of auxiliary branches 
or with the number in attendance at the annual meeting, which was composed of delegates 
from the local societies. The Constitution says in part, "It is not possible for these different 
little societies in their detached situation to imite their efforts against the great will with the 
same good effect without some general medium of union." 

6« Western Monitor, December 15, 1815. 

" American State Papers, Miscel. Vol. 2, No. 395, p. 278. 

" Ibid. 

" Edward Needles: "Historical Memoirs of the Pennsylvania Society," pp. 58, 80; 
"Minutes of the Proceedings of the American Convention *** for 1812, "p. 17; for 1818, p. 41; 
The Abolition Intelligencer * * *, September, 1822; Genius of Universal Emancipation, Vol. 2, pp. 
61-62. 

»" These proposals were printed in full in the Indiana Gazette (Corydon, Indiana), 
November 29, 1821, and in Lundy's Genius of Universal Emancipation (Greenville, Tennessee), 
March, 1822. See also A. E. Martin: "Pioneer Anti-Slavery Press," in the March number 
of the Mississippi Valley Historical Review, 1916, pp. 525ff. 



46 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

which was called the Abolition Intelligencer and Missionary- 
Magazine, appeared in May, 1822,^1 as a monthly instead of a 
semi-monthly, as stated in the proposals. ^ 2 

Each number of the Abolition Intelligencer and Missionary 
Magazine contained sixteen pages, the first eight of which were 
devoted wholly to a discussion of slavery and the last eight 
to missions. The historical value of such a paper can hardly 
be overestimated. It was a repository for all plans for the 
abolition of slavery, for all laws, opinions, arguments, essays, 
speeches, reviews, statistics, congressional proceedings, notices 
of books and pamphlets, colonization efforts, political movements, 
— in short, for everything relating to slavery. ^ 3 

There were just two anti-slavery papers published in the 
United States at that time, one, the Abolition Intelligencer and 
Missionary Magazine, the other, Lundy's Genius of Universal 
Emancipation. It is worthy of notice that both of these papers 
were published west of the Appalachian Mountains. This is 
true of every anti-slavery paper published before 1826. ^^ 

Since the Abolition Intelligencer and Missionary Magazine 
was not so well supported as had been anticipated, as the state 
society, which had less than 200 members at that time, was un- 
able to give any substantial aid, it had to be discontinued. 
The twelfth and last number was issued in April, 1823, when the 
paid subscribers numbered fewer than 500. ^^ If it had been 
possible to continue the paper till after Lundy's removal from 

" Lundy announced in the Genius of Universal Emancipation for April, 1822, that 
"the work was expected to have been commenced before this time, but it is painful to learn 
that it does not, a& yet, meet with the encouragement that would be likely to defray the ex- 
penses of publication * * *. The Society, I am told, have resolved to put the work in operation, 
very shortly; and that it may prosper, should be the wish of every philanthropic and humane 
mind. Those who are expected to have the editorial management of the paper, are well 
qualified for a discharge of the duties that will devolve upon them. Some of them, with whom 
I have had the pleasure of personal acquaintance, are men of talent, and e.xcellent character, 
and it is to be presumed that it will be ably conducted." 

" Abolition Intelligencer***, May, 1822. Only twelvenumbersofthispaper were issued, 
nine of which are in the Wisconsin State Historical Society Library at Madison, Wisconsin. 
See also Martin: "Pioneer Anti-Slavery Press." 

The first number of the paper contained a full and explicit enumeration of the objects 
of the society and of the paper. .Among other things they desired to prepare the public mind 
for the gradual constitutional abolition of slavery, to convince the people that that institution 
was a national, an individual, and a moral evil, hostile to the spirit of the government, ruinous 
to the prosperity of the nation, destructive to social happiness, and subversive to the great 
principles of morality. 

" Abolition Intelligencer***, May, 1822. See also Martin: "Pioneer Anti-Slavery 
Press," p. .S26. 

'< Following is a list of the anti-slavery papers published before 1827, which avowed 
the extinction of slavery as one, if not the chief, of their objects. (Martin: "Pioneer Anti- 
Slavery Press," p. 526f.) 

The Philanthropist. Ohio, 1817-19. 

The Manumission Intelligencer, Tennessee, 1819. 

The Emancipator, Tennessee, 1820. 

The Genius of Universal Emancipation, Ohio, 1821; Tennessee, 1822-24; Maryland, 
1824-30. 

The Abolition Intelligencer and Missionary Magazine, Kentucky, 1822-23. 

The African Observer, Pennsylvania, 1826. 

The Genius of Universal Emancipation was the only anti-slavery paper published 
before 1826 that had an existence of more than two years. 
" Abolition Intelligencer***, March, 1823. 



Anti-Slavery in Kentucky — 1800-18^0 47 

Tennessee to Baltimore in 1824, the Abolition Intelligencer 
and Missionary Magazine might have received enough sub- 
scribers from the anti-slavery strongholds of east Tennessee and 
Ohio to have made the publication profitable or at least self- 
supporting. To what extent the discontinuance of the Aboli- 
tion Intelligencer and Missionary Magazine and the subse- 
quent decline of the Kentucky Abolition Society may be at- 
tributed to the active opposition which that periodical excited, 
it is impossible to say. Articles condemning the Intelligencer 
as seditious, and even threats of violence against the editor 
were not unknown, ^^ and the pulpit joined the press in de- 
nouncing the society for publishing it. In 1827, Lundy said that 
there were still eight societies in Kentucky, with a membership 
of 200,6 7 but he did not mention the Kentucky Abolition 
Society, which probably had gone out of existence. The 
local societies also soon disappeared or were transferred into 
colonization societies. « ^ 

The abolition societies in Kentucky, though small in numbers, 
nevertheless performed a valuable and necessary service. They 
kept alive anti-slavery discussion by a continued agitation of 
the subject; they strenuously opposed and materially checked 
the internal slave trade by pointing out the horrors of the system ; 
they defended the free Negro before the law and labored to 
better his condition by raising his standard of life; they endeav- 
ored to ameliorate the condition of the slaves and to prevent the 
separation of families. Though it is true that they did not wholly 
succeed in any one of these undertakings, yet it must be said 
that they succeeded in part in all of them. In this the Kentucky 
societies did not differ materially from those in other sections 
of the country during the same period. All were conservative, 
for the most part advocating gradual constitutional abolition. 
To be sure, there were already individuals in both the free and 
the slave states favoring immediate emancipation, but they 
were not numerous. In 1808 David Barrow said that he did 
not know of one among the Kentucky anti-slavery workers 
who advocated an immediate general emancipation; "those who 
have considered the subject know that it is a matter of very great 
importance and that it will require time to prepare those sons 

•• Abolition Intelligencer***, August, 1822; June, 1822; quoted from the Compiler, July 
1822, quoted from the Columbian. 

" Genius of Universal Emancipation, October 13, 1827. 
" The Colonization Society will be discussed in Chapter 7. 



48 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

and daughters of wretchedness to receive the blessings of liberty 
as well as to remove the prejudices." ^^ 

The strong sectional feeling growing out of the slavery 
controversy, which was to play such an important part in our 
history, was not very pronounced during these years, especially 
before 1820. Slavery had been too recently abolished in the 
northern states — in New York not until 1827 — for a strong radical 
feeling to be developed there, and in the South it was by no 
means universally regarded as indispensable to the economic 
interests, although in the cotton states it was making rapid 
strides in that direction. The Missouri contest and the strug- 
gle over the state constitutions of Illinois and Indiana aroused 
individuals, societies, and legislatures to the importance of the 
question and emphasized a divergency of sectional interests, 
which were forcibly expressed when the legislature of Ohio 
passed a resolution in 1824 favoring the emancipation and 
colonization of the adult children of slaves at the expense of 
the national government. This proposal was endorsed by the 
legislatures of at least six northern states including Pennsylvania, 
while it was attacked by all the states of the lower South. ^° 
But in the border states, where slavery was poorly adapted to 
the economic life of the people, sectionalism was as yet less evi- 
dent and the question of emancipation probably was still more 
generally discussed than in any other part of the country. ^^ 

•» Barrow: "Involuntary, Absolute, Hereditary Slavery ***," p. 24. 

" Ames: "State Documents on Federal Relations," No. 5, p. 11 (with citations); 
J. B. McMaster: "History of the United States," Vol. 5, p. 204. 

" Lundy in the Genius of Universal Emancipation, October 13, 1827, makes the fol- 
lowing classification of the abolition societies of the United States: 

FREE STATES SOCIETIES MEMBERS 

Massachusetts 

Rhode Island 4 300 

New York 

Peimsylvania 16 900 

Ohio 4 300 

Total 24 1,500 

SLAVE STATES 

Delaware 2 75 

Maryland 11 500 

District of Columbia 2 100 

Virginia 8 250 

Kentucky 8 200 

Tennessee 25 1 ,000 

North Carolina SO 3 ,000 

Total 106 5,125 

GRAND TOTAL 130 6 ,625 



THE COLONIZATION MOVEMENT IN KENTUCKY 

1816-1850 



CHAPTER IV 



One of the problems confronting the anti-slavery agitators 
in all parts of the country was the free Negro, who constituted 
a considerable element of our population prior to the Civil 
War. 1 His condition was well described by Henry Clay in 1829, 
when he said: "Of all the descriptions of our population, and of 
either portion of the African race, the free people of color are, 
by far, as a class, the most corrupt, depraved and abandoned. * * * 
They are not slaves, and yet they are not free. The laws, it is 
true, proclaim them free; but prejudices, more powerful than any 
law, deny them the privileges of freemen. They occupy a mid- 
dle station between the free white population and the slaves of 
the United States, and the tendency of their habits is to corrupt 
both." 2 In the North as well as in the South, the free Negro 
was deemed an undesirable member of society, ^ and many 
slaveholders who recognized slavery as a great evil were con- 
vinced that general emancipation without a removal of the freed 
slaves would be yet worse, and must result in insurrection, mur- 
der, and every form of outrage. 

This peculiar position which the free Negro occupied in 
relation to the slave, to the abolition movement, and to the white 

> The free Negro population of the United States from 1790 to 1840 was: 1790, 59,511; 
1800, 110,072; 1810, 186,446; 1820, 226,775; 1830, 319,467; 1840, 386,265. About 45 per 
cent, of these lived in the slave States. In 1830 there were 4,816 free Negroes in Kentucky. 

' Speech of Henry Clay before the American Colonization Society in 1829, African 
Repository, Vol. 6, p. 12. 

» The Negro codes in the northern states were in many cases as strict as, and in some 
instances more strict than those in the southern states. In general in the slave states the 
free Negro was restricted in his freedom by the following limitations: General exclusion from 
the elective franchise, denial of the right of locomotion, denial of the right of petition, ex- 
clusion from the army and militia, exclusion from all participation in the administration of 
justice, and limitations as to education. There were also laws in most of the states forbidding 
or restricting the importation of free Negroes. Such laws were passed in Kentucky in 1807 
(Littell: "Statute Laws of Kentucky," Vol. 3, p. 499). 

In 1833, Niles in his Weekly Register, Vol. 45, pp. 167-168, makes the following 
comment upon the condition of the free Negro: "There are many and great inducements 
in the free States, * * * to rid themselves of a surplus free colored population. These are not of 
the best class of colored persons. They know enough to feel that they are degraded, and to 
be almost without a hope of bettering their condition; and hence they become careless of the 
future." He quoted at length from the Prison Discipline Society, for 1827, which showed 
a very large per cent, of Negro criminals in all the northern states. The proportion of the 
different states varied from one-third in New Jersey, where they constituted one-thirteenth 
of the population, to one-third in Coimecticut, where they represented one-thirty-fourth of 
the total population. 



50 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to i8§o 

population centered upon him a great deal of attention, especial- 
ly from those friends of emancipation who felt that the success 
of their efforts depended to a large extent upon the ability of the 
Negro to reap the advantages of freedom and who naturally 
looked to the free Negro to furnish this example to the world. 
The attitude of the anti-slavery societies toward this element of 
the population was set forth clearly in the address of the Ameri- 
can Convention of Delegates for the Promotion of the Abolition 
of Slavery and Improving the Condition of the African Race to 
the free Negroes in 1818. In part it is as follows: "Vain will be 
the desire on the part of the friends of abolition, to behold their 
labors crowned with success, unless those colored people who 
have obtained their freedom, should evince by their morality and 
orderly deportment, that they are deserving the rank and station 
which they have obtained in society ; unavailing will be the most 
strenuous exertions of humane philanthropists in your behalf, 
if you should not be found to second their endeavors, by a course 
of conduct corresponding with the expectations and the wishes 
of your friends* **so to order and regulate your conduct and de- 
portment in the world and amongst men, that your example may 
exhibit a standing refutation of the charge, that you are un- 
worthy of freedom * * *. Finally, be sober ; be watchful over every 
part of your conduct, keeping constantly in view, that the free- 
dom of many thousands of your colour, who still remain in slav- 
ery, will be hastened and promoted by your leading a life of vir- 
tue and sobriety."^ This same sentiment is expressed in the 
numerous addresses issued by anti-slavery societies as well as in 
their constitutions, where it was inserted as one of the funda- 
mental objects of the organizations. Nearly every society had 
a special department or a committee whose duty it was to look 
after the interests of the free Negroes, to see that their rights 
were not abused, and to raise their standards of morality. 

It was with a view to finding a solution for this difificult 
problem that the American Colonization Society for the Free 
People of Color was founded at Washington in 1816. While it 
is with the history of colonization in Kentucky that this chapter 
is particularly concerned, it will be necessary to turn attention 
briefly to the history of the above society into which the local 
anti-slavery societies of the state were at length absorbed and 
with which the colonization societies there were affiliated.^ 



< ".Vi Address to the Free People of Colour***," by the American Convention of Dele- 
gates for the Promotion of the Abolition of Slavery, 1818. 
» See supra, p. 47. 



The Colonization Movement in Kentucky — 18 16-1850 51 

The objects of the Society were stated in its constitution 
and in the numerous addresses issued by the society. The an- 
nual meeting in 1826 "Resolved, That its only object is, what 
has been at all times avowed, the removal to the Coast of Africa, 
with their own consent, of such people of colour within the United 
States, as are already free, and of such others, as the humanity 
of the individuals, and the laws of the different states, may here- 
after liberate." 6 And Henry Clay, president of the society, three 
years later said in this connection: "From its origin, and through- 
out the whole period of its existence, it has constantly disclaimed 
all intention whatever of interfering, in the smallest degree, with 
the rights of property, or the object of emancipation, gradual or 
immediate.*** It hopes, indeed, that if it shall demonstrate the 
practicability of the successful removal to Africa, of free persons 
of colour, with their consent, the cause of emancipation, either 
by states or by individuals, may be incidentally advanced." ^ 

While this policy of the society was generally approved, as 
was to be expected, it met with greater success in the border states 
than elsewhere. In the lower South, indeed, the society was 
always viewed with some suspicion, « and pro-slavery leaders 
generally came to consider it a scheme looking towards eventual 
emancipation.^ On the other hand the leading anti-slavery or- 
ganization, The American Convention of Delegates for the Pro- 
motion of the Abolition of Slavery and Improving the Condition 
of the African Race, withheld all support on the ground that the 
society was doing nothing to further the ends that the conven- 
tion had in view. ^ ^ Nevertheless, the American Colonization 
Society did not lack for distinguished and influential support- 
ers. Justice Bushrod Washington was its first president and 
John Marshall, James Madison, James Monroe, and Henry Clay 
were among his successors. 

The legislatures of Virginia, Maryland, and Georgia en- 
dorsed its request, to which the national government acceded in 
1821, that Liberia be purchased for its use. In short, it drew ad- 
herents from many quarters. Some hoped to rid the state of the 

• African Repositorj', Vol. 1, pp. 335-6; Niles' Weekly Register, Vol. 45, p. 167. 

' African Repository, Vol. 6, p. 13. His entire speech before the Colonization Society 
in 1829, of which he was President, is given in this number. 

8 Birney: "James G. Birney and His Times," pp. 118-119. 

» Register of Debates, 19th Congress, 2d Session, p. 328. Senator Hayne, of South 
Carolina, in discussing in Congress, in 1827, the making of an appropriation for the American 
Colonization Society, said: ".A-re not the members and agents of this society everywhere (even 
while disclaiming such intentions), making proclamations that the end of their schemes is 
universal emancipation? * * * Does not every Southern man know that wherever the Colonization 
Society has invaded our country a spirit of hostility to our institutions has immediately sprung 
up?" 

'» "Minutes of the American Convention***, 1818," pp. 30, 38, 47-54, 65f. 



52 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 18^0 

undesirable free Negroes. Others saw in the society an aid to 
the eventual extinction of slavery through voluntary emancipa- 
tion and transportation of the freedmen to Africa. The society 
was, therefore, admirably adapted to the sentiment of the bor- 
der states. To the extent that it promised even indirectly to 
advance the cause of emancipation it could command the sup- 
port of the anti-slavery element while its program of removal 
for the free Negro would commend it to pro-slavery and anti- 
slavery men alike. 

While the colonization idea was generally approved in Ken- 
tucky, as in other sections of the country, the membership of 
and number of auxiliary societies increased very slowly for a 
number of years after the founding of the original society at 
Washington in 1816. The first auxiliary society was not es- 
tablished in Kentucky until 1823, and the second not until 1827. ^ 1 
We have seen, however, that the abolition societies described 
above adopted colonization as one of their objects in 1823 and 
gradually gave it increasing prominence, until in the late twen- 
ties they had become in reality colonization societies. There is 
abundant evidence, that, in effecting this change, the abolition 
societies were reflecting a growing body of public opinion. As 
early as 1823 the Presbyterian Synod of Kentucky had approved 
the work of the American Colonization Society and appointed 
a special committee to further its objects in the state. ^ ^ At 
about the same time the Kentucky newspapers took up the 
scheme and devoted increasing attention to it. Their attitude 
was well illustrated by an article on voluntary emancipation and 
colonization, published by the Commentator in 1825. In part 
it is as follows: "This voluntary mode of putting an end to slav- 
ery, will we hope find increasing proselytes. It violates no rights 
real or imaginary; it inflicts injury on no interests or feelings; 
it displays a spirit worthy of the freest people in the world and it 
proves by demonstration that while we are tenacious on the sub- 
ject of our own freedom we are desirous of extending its blessings 
to all classes of the human race even by the sacrifice of some of 
our interests," 13 fhe plan also received the hearty support of 
the religious papers, especially the Western Luminary and the 
Presbyterian Herald, both of which published colonization arti- 

" Adams: "Anti-Slavery in America," p. 106. 

" Davidson: "Histor>' of tlie Presbyterian Chiircli in Kentucky," pp. 337-8. The 
General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church had taken similar action in 1818. 
'» The Commentator, August 12, 1825. 



The Colonization Movement in Kentucky — 1816-1850 53 

cles and notices in practically every number. In 1827, the 
General Assembly of the state passed a joint resolution en- 
dorsing colonization, 1* and similar action was taken two years 
later with only two dissenting votes. At the latter date the 
Kentucky representatives in Congress were asked to use their in- 
fluence to secure an appropriation of money for the purpose of 
furthering the interests of the society. ^ ^ 

The effect of these influences is not difficult to trace. The 
number of societies increased from two in 1827 to five in 1829 
when they were united in the Kentucky Colonization Society, ^ ^ 
which in turn became an auxiliary to the American Colonization 
Society. The following year four agents were appointed to de- 
vote all their time traveling in the state for the purpose of dis- 
seminating information concerning the society and for the estab- 
lishment of auxiharies. ^ "^ 

The energetic canvass thus instituted in the interest of colo- 
nization soon bore fruit. In a letter to the Kentucky Reporter 
in 1830, astonishment was expressed by a correspondent at the 
ardor with which men of all ranks entered into the movement 
and the opinion was expressed that 10,000 members could be se- 
cured to the society in the course of the next three or four years. 
The writer also stated that numerous individuals had expressed 
their willingness to surrender their Negroes at any time that the 
society might be ready to receive them.^^ The African Reposi- 
tory in commenting on the work of the various colonization so- 
cieties in the United States in 1830 said : "Probably in no state of 
the Union has the scheme of African Colonization found more 
decided friends or rnet with more general approbation than in 
Kentucky." 19 The governing bodies of the Presbyterian, 20 the 
Methodists, 2 1 and the Baptist 2 2 churches of Kentucky repeat- 
edly approved colonization and at different times made special 
efforts to promote its interests. It is therefore not surprising 
that by 1832 the number of societies in Kentucky had increased 



>' The Spirit of Seventy-Six, March 22. 1827; The Western Luminary, June 24, 1827. 

15 Niles' Weekly Register, Vol. 35, p. 387. 

>« Adams: "Anti-Slavery in America," p. 106. See also, African Repository, Vol. 3, 
p. 27; Vol. 7, p. 94; Vol. 8, p. 91; Vol. 9, pp. 194, 216. 

" The Kentuckian, June 1, 1829; African Repository, Vol. 4, p. 351; Vol. 5, pp. 27-291 
Vol. 6, p. 82. 

" The Kentucky Reporter, 1830, quoted in the .\frican Repository, Vol. 5, pp. 27-29. 

" African Repository, Vol. 6, p. 80. 

" Davidson: "Historj' of the Presbyterian Church in Kentucky," p. 337. See also 
Western Lurainan,-, March 5, 1834, Western Presbyterian Herald, Nov. 21, 1837. 

" A. H. Redford: "Western Cavaliers," pp.71, 125,149,398. The National General 
Conference approved the colonization idea in 1828. (Journal of tlie General Conference, 
Vol.1, p. 357; Vol. 2, p. 59. See also African Repository. Vol. 3, p. 120; \'ol. 4, p. 126; Vol. 6, 
p. 83.) 

« The (Baptist) Cross, February 6, 1834. 



54 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

to 31.23 Some of these moreover were county organizations 
composed of several local societies. 

The reason for this general approbation lay, as has been sug- 
gested, in the double appeal made by colonization. In its con- 
stitution of 1829, the Kentucky Colonization Society had declared 
that its purpose was to relieve the Commonwealth "from the 
serious inconvenience resulting from the existence among us, of a 
rapidly increasing number of free persons of colour, who are not 
subject to the restraints of slavery." 2 4 With this purpose even 
pro-slavery men could sympathize. Conservative anti-slavery 
men, on the other hand, could not overlook the declaration that 
"The late disposition to voluntary emancipation is so increasing 
that no law is necessary to free us from slavery, provided there 
is an asylum accessible to the liberated." 2 5 

And it appears, therefore, that in Kentucky, at least, 
the anti-slavery feature of the colonization scheme was not 
merely passive. The state and local societies were to some 
extent centers of anti-slavery thought, since in the numerous 
addresses before them, which were usually published in the cur- 
rent newspapers, as well as in the African Repository, the in- 
stitution of slavery was attacked upon moral, economic, and 
political grounds. The tendency, or rather the desire, of the 
Kentucky masters to give up their slaves for the purpose of 
freeing and removing them to Liberia was repeatedly referred to. 
Thus Robert J. Breckinridge, in 1831, said that colonization 
took for granted the fact that slavery was a great moral and 
political evil "and (the society) cherished the hope and the belief 
also, that the successful prosecution of its objects would offer 
powerful motives and exert a persuasive influence in favor of 
emancipation. And it is with this indirect effect of the society 
that the largest advantage is to result to America." 2 e J. C. 
Young, the president of Centre College at Danville, Kentucky, 

" Adams: "Anti-Slavery in America," p. 106. 

Female colonization societies were organized in Louisville, Lexington and elsewhere 
in the state. They were exceedingly active and rendered valuable service in obtaining funds 
for the society. 

The growth of societies to promote colonization was by no means confined to Ken- 
tucky. The American Colonization Society, at the end of its first decade (1826), had 62 
auxiliary branches. By 1832 they had increased to 228 and of these 92 were in the free states 
and 136 in the slave states. Only 22 were found in the lower South, and of the 114 in the 
border states, 34 were in Virginia and 31 in Kentucky. 

" "Proceedings of the Kentucky Colonization Society for 1831," Pamplilet. See also 
African Repository, Vol. 4, p. 351. 

" "Proceedings of the Kentucky Colonization Society for 1831." Ibid. 

'• Speech before the Kentucky Colonization Society in the African Repository, Vol. 
7, p. 176. A correspondent in the VVcstern Luminary, August 29, 1827, in an article signed 
"Harper," declared that slavery was ruining Kentucky and that the state must soon suffer 
the consequences. He said, "Renationalize the blacks. Send them back to their country, 
beginning first with those that are, and shall become free — and then progress by slow degrees 
with the residue. The colony in Liberia is a star in the east which points out the mode of 
relief." 



The Colotiicatioii Movement in Kentucky — 18 16-1850 55 

stated, before the Kentucky Colonization Society in 1832, 
his belief that colonization would greatly advance both the 
immediate and the permanent prosperity of the country and 
that it would eventually end in escape from slavery. 2 7 Similarly 
the Danville Colonization Society in a petition to the legis- 
lature of Kentucky in 1831 said in this connection: "Within 
the last ten years these degraded people have nearly doubled 
their numbers, * * * . Two-thirds of this increase has 
been produced by emancipation from the slave class, and the 
same spirit which produced that result is still abroad among us, 
and is every day acquiring increased potency over the minds of 
men. The work of emancipation is still going on, and will go 
on, with increased rapidity." 2 » In 1835 the Hon. Joseph R. 
Underwood, later United States Senator, expressed the opinion 
that this sentiment would continue to increase until it pervaded 
and influenced a majority of the slaveholders of the state. He 
said further that these opinions were based upon certain facts, 
which he enumerated and discussed at some length, among 
which were: 1. Slave labor was more expensive than free and 
consequently in the states where there were no slaves the pro- 
ducts could be sold cheaper than where they were raised by 
slaves. 2. Communities that had no slaves surpassed those 
that had, in almost everything that rendered life comfortable. 
3. Many valuable citizens were leaving the state for no other 
reason than the existence of slavery in it. 29 The influence of 
Henry Clay, too, must have been very great, as his opinion on 
this as on other questions carried with it a great deal of force. 
As president of the American Colonization Society he 
declared: "If I could only be made instrumental in ridding 
of this foul blot (slavery) that revered state that gave me 
birth, or that not less beloved state which kindly adopted 
me as her son, I should not exchange the proud satisfaction 
that I should enjoy for all the honor of all the triumphs ever 
decreed to the most successful conqueror." 30 That Clay and 
thousands of his fellow citizens regarded slavery as an evil and 

" African Repository, Vol. 9, p. 59. 

2» African Repository, Vol. 7, p. 211. The liberal enforcement of the emancipation 
laws of the State was discussed in the Spirit of Seventy-Six, January 31, 1827, and in the 
Maysville Eagle, February 14, 1838. 

" Hon. Joseph R. Underwood: "Address before the Kentucky Colonization Society 
in 1835," Pamphlet, p. 20. 

In the report of the managers of the Kentucky Colonization Society, at its annual 
meeting in 1830, the following statements were made: "Experience has taught that slaves 
add nothing to our national wealth. Where they exist labor is not only high, but badly per- 
formed; and the communities growing up around us who are clear of this evil flourish over us, 
and by their cheapness of labor and more abundant industry are making us tributary." (Afri- 
can Repository, Vol. 6, p. 81.) 

" "Annual Report of the American Colonization Society," Pamphlet, 1827. 



56 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

as antagonistic to the economic interests of the state and that 
they believed that colonization would either accomplish event- 
ually the extinction of slavery or contribute largely toward 
that end are evident to any one cognizant of the facts. The 
problem before them was an exceedingly complicated one, and 
its solution a difficult and uncertain task. While such opinions 
as the above were freely voiced it is clear that the position of the 
Kentucky Colonization Society, reiterated in its numerous re- 
ports, in numerous speeches, and in the newspapers^i through- 
out the state, must have enjoyed a large measure of support 
among the conservative classes of the state. Thus the Louis- 
ville Journal, one of the most influential papers in Kentucky, 
declared "We look upon colonization as the only plan con- 
sistent with individual rights and the peace and happiness and 
the prosperity of the nation which has been or can be devised for 
the abrogation of slavery in the Southern states. * * * Its 
object is not to pronounce the negro free and equal to the 
white but to endeavor to make him so — not simply to break 
the chains from his limbs, but to place him in a position to de- 
serve and enjoy freedom." 3 2 

While a majority of those affiliated with the movement in 
Kentucky appear to have had this attitude toward the work, 
there were some who wished merely to remove the free Negroes 
from the state and who were opposed to any anti-slavery ten- 
dencies on the part of the colonization society. A good repre- 
sentative of this class was the Hon. Robert Wicklifife, whom 
Cassius M. Clay frequently compared to McDuffie of South 
Carolina, because of his radical pro-slavery views. Wickliffe 
was at one time a member of the colonization society of Kentucky. 
In an address before the Female Colonization Society of Lex- 
ington, he made the statement that the society was not designed 
to interfere in any way between master and slave, whereupon 
Robert J. Breckinridge arose and flatly contradicted the state- 
ment, and further said that if the ultimate aim of the society 
was not to emancipate the slaves, he would wash his hands of 
it. Others expressed the same opinion, and shortly afterwards 
Wickliffe severed his connection with the society forever. ^^ 
The Louisville Public Advertiser, a Democratic and anti-Clay 
paper, also strongly opposed colonization. An editorial of 1830 

«' The newspapers of the state were almost unanimous in their support of colonization 
and permitted it to be discussed freely in their columns. A few, however, doubted the practi- 
cability of the plan and one, the Louisville Public Advertiser, openly opposed it. 

" The Louisville Journal, September 15, 1836. 

•» Robert Wickliffe: "Reply to Robert J. Breckinridge," 1840, Pamphlet, p. 44. 



The Colonization Movement in Kentucky — 1816-1850 57 

said: "We think that it is high time for the people of the state 
to begin to scrutinize with severity the course and conduct of 
the 'Heaven directed Genius' (Henry Clay) on this subject. 
Under pretense of raising funds to transport the free people of 
colour to Liberia, hundreds of associations have been formed 
and appeal after appeal has been made to the sympathies of 
the public, the real object of which was to prepare the public 
mind for the effort we are now told will be made by the 'Heaven 
directed Genius' to induce the Kentuckians to undertake the 
great work of emancipation. We have always viewed the 
project of colonizing the people of colour in Liberia as deceptive 
and pernicious and only intended to cover the real designs of 
its leading advocates — that of emancipating slaves and leaving 
them among us, some to fall victims to folly and \ace and others 
to be amalgamated — united by ties of blood with the sons and 
daughters of their political champions." 3* 

Whatever their intentions, the Kentucky colonization so- 
cieties were never able to accomplish a great deal in the way either 
of ridding the state of the free colored population or of lessening 
to any great extent the number of slaves, but a small beginning 
was made which it was hoped would tend toward a final solution 
of the problem. There were many instances of willingness on 
the part of masters to free their slaves for transportation to 
Africa, 3 5 but the lack of funds appears to have greatly hampered 
the work. The Louisville Branch of the Kentucky Colonization 
Society, which appeared to be more active than any other in 
the state, raised $805.25 in 183236 and $3,000 in 1839.3 7 In 
1833 the Kentucky Colonization Society collected $1,137.6738 
and in 1836 it turned over to the American Colonization So- 
ciety $1,000.3 9 These sums were obviously inadequate to 
accomplish much in view of the cost of transportation which 
was estimated at from twenty to thirty-five dollars for each 
individual. 4 



" Louisville Public Advertiser, April 19, 1830. This was the strongest and most 
radical pro-slaven,' paper in the state. 

" Niles' Weekly Register, Vol. 48, p. 42; Vol. 49, p. 195; The Commonwealth, Febru- 
ary 20, 1839, stated that there were a number of large slaveholders in the state who were 
ready to liberate their slaves whenever the Kentucky Colonization Society was prepared to 
transport them to Africa. 

" African Repository, Vol. 9, p. 28. 

»' Ibid.. Vol. 15, p. 154. 

'« Louisville Herald, March 4, 1833. 

" African Repository', Vol. 12, p. 269. In 1833 the students of .\ndover Theological 
Seminary, at the suggestion of R. S. Finley, the agent of the Kentucky Colonization Society, 
pledged themselves to raise in six months a sum sufficient to effect the emancipation of 100 
slaves in Kentucky. (Advocate of Popular Rights, September 21, 1833). 

« The Hon. Daniel Mayer in an "Address Before the Kentucky Colonization Society" 
in 1831 estimated the cost of transportation to Africa at $20.00 for each individual. (Pamphlet.) 
This estimate is probably too low. The Hon. Joseph R. Underwood in an "Address before 
the Kentucky Colonization Society in 1835" placed the average cost at $35.00. 



58 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

It is probably true that the leaders of the movement had 
never expected to rely upon small sums collected in this way. 
After demonstrating the practicability of colonization they 
had looked for governmental help. As early as 1830 the Ken- 
tucky Colonization Society sent a memorial to Congress, in which 
slavery was condemned and the government was asked to assume 
the same attitude toward the free Negro that it held toward the 
American Indian and to provide means for his transportation 
and colonization either in the unsettled section of our own country 
or in Liberia. ^ ^ The following year a petition was sent to the 
legislature of Kentucky asking for an appropriation of money 
for the purpose of transporting to Liberia all free colored persons 
willing to go. It was suggested that an annual tax of ten cents 
be levied on every slave in the state as a means of raising this 
fund. A bill embodying this suggestion was introduced by 
Representative Green, but it failed of passage. * 2 That this 
action was a disappointment to the society may be gathered 
from the speech of Robert J. Breckinridge, delivered in the same 
year when he said: "It is generally known that the original 
members of the American Colonization Society anticipated, 
that at some future period, the general government and some 
if not all of the state governments would co-operate in their 
exertions for the removal of an evil which was obviously national 
in all its aspects, and which no private exertions were adequate 
to extinguish." 4 3 And Henry Clay said in this connection in 
1837: "The Society was formed to demonstrate the prac- 
ticability of colonization in Africa, and, if it were unhappily 
dissolved tomorrow, that great purpose of its founders will 
have been completely accomplished. No one can now doubt 
that, with the application of adequate means, such as the govern- 
ments of the several states of the Union could supply, almost 
without an effort, the colonization of the descendants of the Afri- 
can race may be effected to any desirable extent. The founders 
of the Society never imagined that, depending as it does upon 
spontaneous contributions from the good and the benevolent 
irregularly made, without an established revenue, and without 
power, the Society alone was competent to colonize all the free 

<' African Repository, Vol. 5, p. 347. The rules of the society require the holding of the 
annual meetinRS during the sessions of the legislature. For further attempts to influence 
the legislature see Breckinridge Papers for 1830 and 1831 and especially H. VVingate to R. J. 
Breckinridge, Dec. 1, 1830; Dr. S. Marshall to R. J. Breckinridge, December, 1831. 

" Lexington Observer, September 16, 1831. .\frican Repository, Vol. 7, pp. 148, 212. 
A great number of plans were proposed and discus,sed from time to time for raising 
funds for carrying out the plans of the society, but none of them met with the approval of the 
legislature. 

" African Repository, Vol. 14, p. 17. 



The Colonisation Movement in Kentucky — 1816-1850 59 

persons of colour in the United States. They hoped, and the 
Society still hopes, that, seeing what has been done, and can 
be done, governments may think fit to take hold of the principle, 
and carry it out as far as they may deem right, with their ample 
powers and abundant resources. * * * Great national 
enterprises are not to be speedily executed, like those of indi- 
viduals, in the short span of the life of one person. * * * 
Near two centuries elapsed, during which her (Africa's) sons 
were constantly transported to the shores of the New World, 
doomed to a state of bondage. A period of similar extent 
may possibly be necessary to restore their descendants to the 
parent country, with all the blessings of law and liberty, relig- 
ion and civilization. A sudden and instantaneous separation 
of the two races, if it were possible, would be good for neither 
nor for either country." ^^ 

In view of the shortage of funds it is not surprising that 
the number of free Negroes transported from Kentucky to Af- 
rica was in fact very small. ^^ The efforts of the society, how- 
ever, were not relaxed. In 1844, an agitation was started for 
the establishment of a separate colony in Africa to be known as 
"Kentucky in Liberia"'* e and to be modeled after "Maryland 
in Liberia" which had been established the previous year. * 7 
In 1845 the Rev. A. M. Cowan, the agent of the American 
Colonization Society in Kentucky, began a campaign to raise 
$5,000 to be used in purchasing a suitable tract of land on which 
the free colored people of Kentucky might be settled. ^^ The 
newspapers, the religious denominations, and various other 
organizations entered actively into the campaign, and as a 
result the money was raised before the end of the year. Acting 
under instructions from the American Colonization Society, 
Governor Roberts of Liberia laid off a tract of land forty miles 
square on the north side of the St. Paul River for that purpose. ^ ^ 

Special inducements were offered to attract the free Negroes 
and to make them contented and prosperous after their arrival. 
The emigrants were to enjoy all the advantages of the government 



" African Repository, Vol. 14, p. 18. Speech before the American Colonization Society 
1837. 

" Ninety-six slaves from Kentucky were sent to Liberia, in 1833, and others were sent 
from time to time during the thirties, but the average was probably less than that for 1833. 
Louis\alle Public Advertiser, March 27, 1833. Among the emigrants for 1833 were eleven 
slaves freed by Robert J. Breckinridge and turned over to the Colonization Society together 
with considerable money and supplies for their maintenance after their arrival in Africa. 

«• African Repository, Vol. 20, p. 310. 

" Ibid., Vol. 19, p. 341. 

« Ibid., Vol. 21, p. 380; The Frankfort Commonwealth, September 30, 1845; Niles' 
Weekly Register, Vol. 69, p. 102. 

" African Repository, Vol. 21, p. 283. 



60 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

of Liberia and all the privileges that they would enjoy in any 
settlement in the Commonwealth, ^o Those who were unable 
to pay their own expenses were to be provided for by funds 
raised in Kentucky and they were to be supported for six months 
after their arrival. ^ 1 Each head of a family or single adult was 
promised a building lot in the town with five acres adjoining 
or if he settled two miles out of town fifty acres, or three miles 
from town one hundred acres of land.^^ 

A vessel was chartered to sail in November, 1845, with about 
200 emigrants for the new settlement, but the ship did not sail 
until February, 1846, and then with only thirty-five emigrants 
from Kentucky, although there was a large number from other 
states in the Mississippi Valley. ^ 3 Of the thirty-five emigrants 
from Kentucky, twenty were men, six were women, and nine 
were children. Only two were free Negroes. Twelve were 
church members, two of them ministers. There were three 
carpenters, one blacksmith, and one shoemaker. ^^ 

The American Colonization Society granted the Kentucky 
Colonization Society permission to use all the money raised 
in the state for the transportation of emigrants from Kentucky, ^ ^ 
and a special effort was made to induce the state legislature 
to make an appropriation to defray the expenses of transportation 
but without success. 5" The Presbyterian Synod of Kentucky 
pledged S500 toward the purchase of a ship to run as a regular 
packet between New Orleans and Liberia to carry emigrants 
and provisions from the Mississippi Valley.^" The Rev. Mr. 
Cowan called a convention of the free Negroes of Kentucky 
in order to induce a greater emigration to Liberia. Lexington, 
Louisville, and Danville were each to send one Negro represent- 
ative to the settlement in Africa at the expense of the society. 
After one year's residence in the colony these representatives 
were to return and report to the free Negroes of the state. ^^ 
As was planned the representatives were sent to Liberia, but 
no record has been found of either their return or the contemplated 
report. 



'» African Repository, Vol. 21, p. 283. 

•' Ibid.; Niles' Weekly Register. Vol. 68. p. 362. 

" Presbyterian Herald, January 15, 1846. 

" Ibid.; African Repository, Vol. 23, p. 65. The number of Necroes emiKratins from 
Kentucky to Liberia during the following years was: 1840. 12; 1841, 20; 1843, 14; 1844, 21; 
1845, 36; 1846. 35. 

" Ibid. 

" African Repository. Vol. 22. p. 304. 

»• Ibid., Vol. 22. p. 38. 

•' The Liberator, October 24. 1845. 

" Niles' Weekly Register, Vol. 72. p. 323. 



The Colonisation Movement in Kentucky — 1816-1850 61 

There was considerable discussion in Kentucky about this 
time of the advisabiHty of compelling all free Negroes to emi- 
grate to Africa and upon at least one occasion, in 1845, a mass 
meeting was held in Fayette County and resolutions to that 
effect adopted and forwarded to the legislature. It was pro- 
posed that they be given free passage and provisions for the 
voyage. ^9 No action appears to have been taken by the legis- 
lature on the subject. 

African colonization continued to be discussed in Kentucky 
until the end of the Civil War and confidence in the feasibility 
of the plan was never lost. In an address before the Kentucky 
Colonization Society in 1847 Judge Bullock said: "It is a re- 
markable fact, that whilst the colonization society has carefully 
avoided all interference with the relations of master and slaves, 
it has done more to promote emancipation than all the abo- 
lition societies in the country. * * * The emancipation which 
it promotes and encourages is real emancipation."'^'^ John 
A. McClung, one of the leading citizens of the state, speaking 
before the society in the following year, declared that slavery 
was merely temporary in all but the cotton states; that it was 
gradually receding in a southern direction and that while 
it would thus eventually be extinguished in Kentucky the black 
population would remain unless removed by means of coloni- 
zation. This he maintained could be easily accomplished 
without much loss to the community or suffering to the Negro. " ' 
As late as 1848 Senator Underwood of Kentucky, a slaveholder 
of large views and much sagacity, said in the United States 
Senate in a discussion on the great territorial bill: "I am no 
advocate of the institution of negro slavery. I believe its 
existence in Kentucky to be prejudicial to the best interests 
of the white population, and if I had the power to colonize and 
remove every slave within the borders of my state, I would 
cheerfully do it." After expressing his belief in the practica- 
bility of colonization he proposed the following plan: "Let a 
future date be fixed, after which every slave child born shall 
be the property of the state, for the purpose of colonization. 
Place our children when weaned in the hands of those who will 
raise them — females till they are eighteen and males to twenty- 

" Anti-Slavery Bugle, October 3, 1845. 

" African Repository. Vol. 23. p. 109. 

•' African Repositorj', Vol. 24, pp. 133-149. 



62 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

five and upon their reaching those ages send them to Africa." ^- 
He expressed the beUef that those to whom the children were 
bound would be willing, in consideration of their services, to 
pay their transportation to Africa. The departure of the fe- 
males as they reached womanhood would put an end to the 
birth of slaves within the state and consequently, he declared, 
the extirpation of slavery would be just as "certain as 
the laws of nature," and, although the process would extend 
over a considerable number of years, that would be to the ad- 
vantage of both races. 6 3 

While the colonization movement in Kentucky did not 
accomplish much in removing the free Negroes, it indirectly 
performed a valuable service by keeping emancipation con- 
stantly before the people. The anti-slavery workers of the 
state generally allied themselves with the colonization movement 
because it seemed to be fairly practicable and because it stood 
a better chance of success than any other plan. Furthermore, 
with the coming of radical abolitionism in the North during 
the thirties many friends of emancipation in the border states 
were forced to support the colonization movement as their 
only means of attacking slavery, since in 1836 the anti-slavery 
societies were completely displaced by the colonization societies. 
This, however, was not a significant change, save as it affected 
a few radical individuals in Kentucky. On the whole the anti- 
slavery societies there had, during their entire existence, 
held nearly the same views about slavery and the necessity by 
gradual means of extinguishing it as those of the colonization 
society. 

" The Presbyterian Herald, September 21, 1848. An interesting proposal for the 
colonization of the Kentucky Negroes in Texas is found in the Crittenden Papers, S. S. Nicholas 
to Lee Crittenden, January 7, 1844. 

" The Presbyterian Herald, September 21, 1848. Also quoted in The Examiner, 
November 1, 1848. 

This is only one of numerous plans that were proposed from time to time. Most 
of them were concerned only with African colonization although a few desired to colonize the 
Negro in Mexico, the West Indies or the western part of the United States. From this date 
until the beginning of the Civil War, these colonization discussions continued unabated as did 
the work of the Colonization Society. 



ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETIES AND THE ADVENT 
OF GARRISONIAN ABOLITION, 1830-1840 



CHAPTER V 



Probably no period in the history of the United States has 
been more characterized by the spirit of reform than that of the 
second quarter of the Nineteenth Century. All the social, 
moral, and religious influences of the community seemed to be 
gathered into a movement designed to annihilate the wickedness 
of man and introduce economic and social well-being. Tran- 
scendentalism, idealism, and humanitarianism were dominant in 
the philosophy of the time. Religious and social reforms of every 
kind, genuine and sham, were eagerly taken up and propagated 
with great enthusiasm. New sects arose with strange doctrines. 
The Mormons made many converts while the Millerites pro- 
claimed and awaited with confidence the advent of the millen- 
nium. A vigorous assault was made on Masonry by a powerful 
political party formed on the basis of this idea alone. The tem- 
perance movement won notable victories. The agitation for 
woman's rights was begun and able champions of the cause ap- 
peared. Peace societies were organized. The transportation 
of the mails on Sunday was one of the debated topics of the day. 
Theatres, lotteries, the treatment of the Indian by the general 
government, all came under the most searching review. The 
environment seemed to be favorable to the rapid and rank 
growth of reforms and crusades, many of them utterly imprac- 
ticable, but all of them pushed with the greatest devotion and 
enthusiam. 

Immediate abolition, when it appeared in the free states, 
was only one of the liberal and humanitarian ideas that were 
sweeping over the country, and in some of the slave states, es- 
pecially those along the northern border, the subject of gradual 
emancipation was freel}^ discussed. The struggle in the consti- 
tutional convention of Virginia, in 1829, and in the two suc- 
ceeding legislatures, where the plan for the gradual abolition of 
slavery was defeated by a very small majority, is an evidence of 
the sentiment that prevailed in the border states during those 
years. 



64 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

In Kentucky, anti-slavery agitation assumed more promi- 
nence than at any time since the struggle of 1798-99 over the 
constitutional convention. The new interest was not confined to 
the colonization society and its auxiliaries discussed in the pre- 
ceding chapter. Men of all grades in society and of all creeds 
and of all political parties enlisted in the cause. In the volumes 
of the Genius of Universal Emancipation for 1828, 1829, and 
1830, Benjamin Lundy repeatedly asserted that the spirit of 
emancipation was gaining ground in Kentucky. He especially 
noted as deserving the support of every friend of the cause ^ the 
efforts of the Western Luminary, the first religious newspaper 
published in the Southwest. This paper was a Presbyterian 
journal established in 1823 under the able editorship of Thomas 
T. Skillman, 2 who from the beginning had attacked the system 
of slavery fearlessly and continued to do so until his death in 
1833. In 113 numbers of the Western Luminary covering the 
period from 1828 to 1833, ninety-one colonization and anti-slav- 
ery articles are found, many of them published in long series and 
dealing with various phases of the matter. ^ They were ably 
written and were copied by many of the Kentucky newspapers 
as well as by newspapers in other sections of the country. The 
Russellville Messenger was likewise active in its opposition to 
slavery.* Anti-slavery sentiment was by no means confined to 
the editors of these sheets. The unusual activity and the char- 
acter of the anti-slavery leaders in the state caused many other 
newspapers to throw open their columns to a discussion of the 
subject. 

The movement against slavery in Kentucky was due to eco- 
nomic as well as humanitarian reasons, but the fact remains that 
the idea of gradual emancipation was making headway in the 
early thirties. A slaveholder of Kentucky in a communication 
to the African Repository in 1829 wrote as follows: "I think I 
hazard nothing in saying that a large portion of us, who are even 
slaveholders ourselves, are looking forward with pleasing antic- 
ipation to that period when slavery shall no longer be a blot 

' Genius of Universal Emancipation, April, 1S30. 

• This paper was founded by Jolin BreckinridEe, but hi.< connection with it ended in 
1826. William BreckinridRe was associated with Skillman in this work for a number of years 
after 1826. 

' An incomplete file of this paper is in the library of the University of Chicago. 

William Lloyd Garrison in the Liberator, December .S, 1831, spoke in the highest 
terms of the fearless attack that the Western Luminary was making on slavery". 

" In the Genius of Universal Emancipation, for .April, 1830, Lundy said in this 
connection: "Several of the newspapers of Kentucky continue to advocate the abolition 
of slavery, in that state, with a freedom and boldness calculated to inspire the hope that the 
day of political and moral redemption is drawing near." The papers referred to were The 
Western Luminary, The Russellville Messenger, and The Kentucky Reporter. 



Anti-Slavery Societies — Garrisonian Abolition 18^0-1840 65 

upon the escutcheon of our RepubHcan Institutions. "^ A cor- 
respondent in the Western Luminary expressed a similar senti- 
ment in the following year, when he said that the people of Ken- 
tucky felt that slavery was a "burden; a yoke which is growing 
heavier. The holders are becoming more weary than the slaves. 
They are looking around for relief with great anxiety."'' An 
editorial in the Western Luminary a little later stated that the 
subject of slavery, which a few years before had been regarded as 
an "interdicted topic, a subject too delicate to bear even the 
most calm and dispassionate discussion, was beginning to be 
viewed now in a more rational manner, by the citizens of our state 
generally. It has become a popular topic in our religious and 
political journals, the private circles, and the legislative halls. 
For one we acknowledge we are glad it is so. We are not of 
those who think the concealment of a public evil from the view 
of the community can be attended with any beneficial conse- 
quences. If then it be a great national evil among us — and who 
does not feel our present system of slavery to be such an evil — do 
not the plainest dictates of common sense teach us that the 
subject, unpleasant and humiliating as it is, should be understood 
by the community, in all its bearings? Ignorance under some 
circumstances may be productive of incalculable evil, but can 
certainly accomplish no good."" 

A writer in the Louisville Herald, in 1833, said that a mild 
and candid discussion of slavery was not only permitted but even 
invited by the public sentiment. » And the editor of the Cincin- 
nati Chronicle after an extensive trip through Kentucky in 1832 
stated that "in traveling through no inconsiderable portion of 
the State of Kentucky, and mingling with both town and coun- 
try population, I could not but remark the change within the 
last few years, in public sentiment, upon the question of 
slavery.* * * There is moreover a growing sentiment among 
the holders of slaves, that neither the pecuniary interest, the 
comfort nor the personal safety of the white population, is en- 
hanced by slavery.* * * Something it must be owned has 
been gained toward the cause of general emancipation and the 
removal of the sla\'es of this country, when such sentiments 



» African Repositoir. Vol. 5, p. 174. 

• Genius of Universal Emancipation, July, 1830, quoted from the Western Luminary. 

' Western Luminarj-, December 21, 1831. A correspondent in the Western Presby- 
terian Herald, November 30, 1837, in speaking of the anti-slavery sentiment in 1830 said 
in reference to the Virginia Convention of 1829: "Had a convention been called in Kentucky 
about the same time I believe it might have been successful." 

' Genius of Universal Emancipation, June, 1833, quoted from the Louisville Herald. 



66 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 18^0 

and such opinions are held and openly avowed among those upon 
whom slavery has been entailed for generations." » And the Rev. 
J. F. Clarke, who lived in Kentucky from 1833 to 1840, writing 
many years later, asserted that "The sentiment in Kentucky, in 
those days, among all the better class of people, was that slavery 
was a wrong and an evil, and that it ought to be abolished. It 
was also believed that Kentucky would, when the time came for 
altering the Constitution, insert a clause in the new Constitution 
that would allow slavery to be abolished.* * * I learned my 
anti-slavery lessons from slavery itself and from the slavehold- 
ers around me. * * * The majority were on the side of those 
who contended that slavery was an evil and a wrong. Nobody 
in the state thought that there was anything improper or dan- 
gerous in having the subject fully discussed." ^ « It would ap- 
pear that Rev. Mr. Clarke's reminiscences are not altogether 
trustworthy on this point, since they were written during the 
latter part of his life and many years after this period. In the 
main, however, though overdrawn, they are correct. As early 
as 1828 a gentleman from Kentucky in a letter to Benjamin 
Lundy said that the sentiment and feelings of the people of the 
state were not so hostile to slavery as formerly and that only a 
few men in the entire state attempted to defend the institution 
on either moral or economic grounds. 1 ^ It is hardly necesssary 
to say that public sentiment was not united in respect to the 
anti-slavery agitation. As the movement developed protests 
were made in the legislature and in the newspapers against 
emancipation sermons and anti-slavery discussions as tending 
to cause insurrection and tumult among the slaves such as had 
recently occurred in Virginia. * 2 It was frequently maintained 
that the conditions were not favorable for abolition or for a free 
discussion of the subject. Such arguments, however, were gen- 
erally unavailing. 

The arguments for gradual emancipation in this period 
rested in part upon ethical and religious grounds but chiefly upon 
economic cbnsiderations. Questions were raised as to the moral 
relations between master and slave, as to the consistency of 
slavery with the principles of democratic government, and as to 
its consistency with the principles of Christianity. Far more 

• The Cincinnati Chronicle, quoted in the Genius of Universal Emancipation, April, 
1833. 

'I J. F. Clarke: "Anti-Slavery Days," pp. 22. 25. 
" Genius of Universal Emancipation, Vol. 7, August 30, 1828. 

" The Commonwealth, December 13, 1831, quoted from the speech of Elisha Smith, 
of Rockcastle County, in the House of Representatives of Kentucky, December, 1831. 



Anti-Slavery Societies — Garrisofdan Abolition 1830-1840 67 

influential, however, was the argument based upon the fact that 
the system of slave labor was not adapted to the real economic 
needs of the state. ^ ^ Reference was frequently made to the pros- 
perity of the states north of the Ohio River and particularly to 
Ohio. In a speech in the Kentucky Senate in 1828 on a bill more 
effectively to prevent the importation of slaves, Mr. Green, of 
Lincoln County, said, "Let us look to the state of Ohio, with her 
rapidly increasing population of freemen, her roads and canals, 
and all her other internal improvements.*** Why is it that she is 
outstripping Kentucky? Not because she has a milder or more 
salubrious climate, for her winters are longer and her growing 
season shorter. Not because her soil is more fertile, for she can 
show no large body of lands equal to the rich land of Kentucky. 
Yet her citizens are able to undersell you in every market. Upon 
what other principle can this be explained, but on this: that free 
labor is cheaper than slave labor — a principle well understood by 
every person who has the slightest acquaintance with practical 
economy." ^^ 

And there was much to support the contention. In 1800, 
the inhabitants of Ohio numbered only 45,365, while Kentucky 
had a population of 220,955. By 1830 the population of Ohio 
had increased to 937,903 while that of Kentucky was only 
687, 917. 1 5 The industries and public works of Ohio had increased 

" The Kentuckian, December 18. 25, 1828; January 8, 22. 29; February 5, 12, 1829. 

'* The Spirit of Seventy-Six, January 31, 1828. This same sentiment was expressed 
forcefully by a correspondent in the Louisville Herald, May 16, 1833, in these words: "They 
(slaves) have done grievous harm already, by hindering our growth, keeping us far behind 
our sister states, impoverishing our soil, corrupting our morals and manners.* ** We believe 
that slavery in our state is unprofitable and ruinous, to say nothing of other objections; and 
as a question of political economy we assert that it imposes upon us a heavy and ever increasing 
tax which must be taken off or sooner or later beggary and decay must be our portion. It 
is madness to try to wink these things out of sight, it is folly to pretend to deny them. All 
experience and observation, the history and the present condition of Virginia and Maryland 
speak with a trumpet voice. The latter has already begun to take measures to regenerate 
its sinking fortunes.* * *Though blessed with a fruitful soil, with many natural advantages, 
they see and acknowledge that their lands have every year been growing poorer, that they 
are slowly but certainly sinking in political importance." 

A long series of articles dealing with this phase of the subject was printed in the Louis- 
ville Herald, 1833. Those of especial importance are in the numbers for January 16, February 
12, 13, and May 28. See also editorial in the Shelbyville Examiner, May 4, 1833. 

" The following tables give the per cent, of increase and the positive growth of three 
border states, Kentucky, Tennessee and Missouri, and of three free states, Ohio, Indiana and 
Illinois. 

PER CENT. INCREASE 

1790-1800 1800-10 1810-20 1820-30 1830-40 1840-50 

Kentucky 199 84 38 21 13 26 

Tennessee 195 147 61 61 21 20 

Missouri 219 110 173 77 

Ohio 408 152 61 62 30 

Indiana 347 500 133 99 44 

Illinois 349 185 202 78 

POSITIVE GROWTH (THOUSANDS) 

Kentucky 147 185 157 123 91 202 

Tennessee 69 156 161 259 147 173 

Missouri 20 45 73 243 298 

Ohio 45 185 350 356 581 460 

Indiana 5 18 122 195 342 302 

Illinois 12 42 102 318 375 

(Abstract of Twelfth Census, pp. 34-36) 



68 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 18^0 

accordingly. The agricultural products of the two states did 
not differ materially, but it was asserted that the farmers of Ohio 
could outsell the Kentucky farmers in all the eastern markets. ^ ^ 
It was even shown that Ohio tobacco, the great staple of Ken- 
tucky, could be sold in Baltimore cheaper than tobacco produced 
by slave labor in Maryland. ^ '' 

It might have been expected as a result of these extensive 
inquiries into the rightfulness and the economic utility of slav- 
ery that positive plans looking toward gradual emancipation 
would be brought forward. As a result of the large number of 
slaves in the state and their unpreparedness for freedom, it was 
generally believed that any plan that might be adopted must be 
necessarily only gradually put into operation and extend over a 
large number of years. With this end in view numerous plans 
and proposals were made during the early thirties and among 
them was a plan for the liberation of the offspring of slaves and 
the formation of societies of slaveholders to effect that purpose. 

The first step in this direction was the circulation, in 1831, ^ » 
of petitions signed by prominent men from different parts of the 
state and setting out the following purpose: "Several citizens, 
slaveholders, under a full conviction that there are insurmount- 
able obstacles to the general emancipation of the present gener- 
ation of slaves, but equally convinced of the necessity and practi- 
cability of emancipating their future offspring, and desirous that 
a society be formed for the purpose of investigating and impress- 
ing these truths on the public mind, as well by example as by pre- 
cept; by placing themselves immediately by mutual voluntary 
arrangement, under a well regulated system of gradual emancipa- 
tion; such a system as they would recommend to their fellow citi- 
zens for adoption as the law of the land. In this view it is pro- 
posed to all slaveholders of every religion, opinion, or country 
who are willing to abolish slavery by the gradual emancipation of 
the coming generation and who are willing, as a pledge of their 

'• C. M. Clay: "A Review of the Late Canvass, 1840," Pamphlet, p. 14; Lexington 
Observer, Oct. 21, 1831; Speech of May Squire Turner in the House of Representatives of 
Kentucky; Western Luminary, March 5, 1834, August 29, 1827. .Mso African Repository, 
Vol. 10, p. 45; Speech of James G. Birney, proposing Gradual Emancipation; The Cross (Ky.). 
February 6, 1834; Address of the Hon. J. T. Morehead before the Kentucky Colonization 
Society in 1 840. Ogden in his "Letters from the West" (R. Ci. Thwaites: "Early Western 
Travels," Vol. 1, pp. 80, 112) in 1821 attributed the increase of population and the industrial 
superiority of Ohio over Kentucky to the e.xistence of slavery in the latter. Other refer- 
ences on this subject are: Louisville Herald, January 11, 1833, P'ebruari' 12, May 16, May 28, 
1833; Genius of Universal Emancipation, July, 1833, p. 63, quoted from Western Luminary; 
African Repository, Vol. 6, p. 9, Speech of Henry Clay before the American Colonization 
Society in 1836. 

" Clay: "Review of the Late Canvass," Pamphlet, p. 14. 

'• For further evidence that many slaveholders were inclining, in 1830-34, toward a 
system of gradual emancipation, see Western Luminary, March .S, 1834; African Repository, 
Vol. 5, p. 174; Vol. 10, p. 43; Birney: "James G. Birney and His Times," pp. 99ff; Hon. Daniel 
Mayer, "Proceedings of the Kentucky Colonization Society, 1831," Pamphlet, p. 21. 



Anti-Slavery Societies — Garrisonian Abolition 18^0-1840 69 

sincerity, to emancipate all slaves born their property hereafter, 
when they shall severally arrive at an age to be fixed on by com- 
pact, to form themselves into societies having these great and 
glorious objects in view.''^ ^ It was intended, upon the addition 
of fifty names to these petitions, to call a meeting for the pur- 
pose of organizing a state society to carry out the plan. 

The undertaking did not prosper to the degree that had 
been anticipated. Although they might be in sympathy with 
the gradual extinction of slavery, slaveholders generally were 
not willing to make personal sacrifices of their property in slaves 
unless they had some assurance that the system would be abol- 
ished throughout the state by constitutional means in the near 
future. Others believed that nothing effective or permanent 
could be accomplished by this plan, and still others thought that 
some method of compensated emancipation would and should 
be adopted by the state or nation. The friends of Henry Clay 
refused to take any part in the movement, until after the presi- 
dential election of 1832, and they discouraged others from doing 
so. ~ " The required number of subscribers to the petitions was 
soon obtained, but leadership was lacking and the movement was 
temporarily abandoned. 2 1 

The revival of this plan and its successful execution are to 
be credited to James G. Birney, a native of Kentucky, and at 
this time a slaveholder of Huntsville, Alabama. Birney had 
become interested in colonization of free Negroes about 1830, 
but continued to hold slaves without any thought of making war 
upon slavery as an institution. According to his own statement 
he could not remember a time when he thought slavery right, 
but he confined his efforts to preventing importations, abolish- 
ing slave markets, and securing kind treatment for slaves. 2 2 He 
never bought a slave in the market, and sold those he owned only 
when he found that there was no other way of securing their 
kind treatment, being himself dependent upon an overseer. Bir- 
ney was at this time a good representative of many of the south - 

'» Western Luminary, F"ebruary 16. 1831. Quoted also in the Liberator, March 26, 
1831. Similar notices appeared in a number of Kentucky papers. 

" Birney: "James G. Birney and His Times," p. 133. 

" Among those of reputations who identified themselves with the movement were 
Rev. John C. Young, Rev. J. D. Paxon, Judge John Green, Daniel Yeiser, William Armstrong, 
James McDowell, Thomas T. Skillman, and Robert J. Breckinridge. 

The Western Luminary, March 26, 1831; The Liberator, April 16, 30, 1831. In this 
last number Garrison said that 36 names had been added to the charter members and that 
"There is some hope, therefore, that many children of the present generation of slaves in 
Kentucky may escape the doom of their parents." 

" Birney: "James G. Birney and His Times," pp. 44, 46, 104, 111-114. 



70 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

em slaveholders who were convinced that slavery was an evil 
but did not clearly see a way to aboHsh it. 23 

In the summer of 1832 Birney unexpectedly received from 
the American Colonization Society an appointment, which he 
accepted, as its agent for the states of Alabama, Mississippi, 
Louisiana, and Tennessee. 2 4 In the autumn of that year he 
proceeded to organize colonization societies and to lecture in the 
principal cities in these states. 25 As a result of this work he be- 
came a thorough student of slavery and acquired an increased 
interest in the Negro, but he soon saw the hopelessness of coloni- 
zation as a remedy for slavery, and in 1833 he gave up the work 
and removed to his native state. ^ e 

Birney had displayed from the beginning an interest in the 
movement in Kentucky to provide for the liberation of the off- 
spring of slaves and had written a number of letters to the leaders, 
particularly to Thomas Skillman, approving the plan and urging 
them to renewed efforts. Upon his return to Kentucky, in 1833, 
he entered into the slavery controversy with all his energy. Be- 
fore leaving Alabama he had written to the early signers of the 
petition, urging them to issue a call for a convention at Lexing- 
ton to carry out the plan. 2 7 In compliance with his wishes a 
call was issued for December, 1833, but some of the signers now 
avowed a change of opinion and others declined to attend the 
meeting. Some had doubts, and others thought the con- 
vention ill-timed. As a result only nine persons, all slavehold- 
ers, were present, but a formal organization was nevertheless 
effected,-* under the name of "The Kentucky Society for the 
Relief of the State from Slavery." The society was connected 
with no other organization. The members pledged themselves 
to emancipate all slaves born their property thereafter on their 
reaching the age of twenty-five years, and their offspring with 
them. This, the only pledge required, was given by the members 
in honor and with good feeling. There was no plan for coercion 
and any member might withdraw who felt disposed to do so. 
Through the influence of Birney the membership was thrown 
open to all classes in the community, ^o By the end of 1834, six- 
ty or seventy men had subscribed to the pledge required by the 

" Birney: "James G. Birney and His Times," pp. 24, 34, 38, 40. 

•• Ibid., pp. 110-130. 

«• Ibid. 

«• Ibid., pp. 130-140. 

>' Ibid., p. 132. See also The Liberator. June 23, 1832. 

» Birney: "James G. Birney and His Times," pp. 133-134. 

" Western Luminary, March .S, 1834; "Address of J. G. Birney in the Court House at 
Lexington, explanatory of the principles, etc., of The Kentucky Society for the Relief of the 
State from Slavery." This was quoted also in the African Repositorj', Vol. 10, pp. 43-46. 



Anti-Slavery Societies — Garrisonian Abolition 18^0-1840 71 

society, and a number of auxiliary branches had been organized, 
but soon after this the society suffered another relapse which end- 
ed a few months later in its dissolution. A contributing cause 
was the rise of the radical abolitionists in the North and the as- 
sociation of James G. Birney with their activities in Kentucky. 
An account of the formation of a similar society under the 
name of "The Ashmun Association," having as its object the grad- 
ual and voluntary emancipation of the slaves of the state, is 
found in the Lexington Observer, February 24, 1832. The con- 
stitution is quoted in full, the preamble of which is as follows: 
"And whereas the Colonization Society has to do with those only 
who are already free or are freed for the special purpose of being 
transported to their native country; And whereas great dif- 
ference of opinion exists among the politicians of our country in 
relation to the constitutional rights of the States to pass laws for 
the universal emancipation ; And whereas the policy of sudden 
and universal emancipation, and especially for those who are 
emancipated to remain among us, is doubted by many; And 
whereas we presume that no objection can be urged against 
individual efforts or a combination of individual efforts for 
their gradual emancipation and transportation which neither 
have for their object nor do in any respect increase the existing 
evil. We, therefore, citizens of the Commonwealth of Kentucky 
agree to form ourselves into an association according and subject 
to the following resolutions." 30 xhe most important provision 
of the constitution of this society was this: "We promise and 
agree that each and every male and female child of color to 
which we have the right of property as a slave, that have been 
or shall be born after the day and date written after our names, 
respectively, shall be born free, according to the following stipula- 
tions and provisions, to wit: That the said child or children shall 
be held and considered as bound to us who claim and hold the 
legal right to it or them as apprentices or wards to our orders 
and discretion until the age of twenty-five if male and twenty if 
female, at the expiration of which period we will permit him, her 
or them to be sent by the Colonization Society to Africa, or if 
the said society have not the means sufficient for the transpor- 
tation thither we will either furnish them ourselves or hire the 
said wards to the lowest bidder in relation to the time for the 
purpose of raising them * * * ."^i Annual meetings of the 

'» Lexington Observer, February 24. 1832. Any connection with the colonization 
or anti-slavery societies was disavowed. 

»' Lexington Observer, February 24, 1832. 



72 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

society were to be held each year in Frankfort and efforts 
were to be made to form auxiliary societies in each county 
in the state. The constitution of the society together with 
a memorial signed by the members was sent to the legisla- 
ture of Kentucky in 1832, setting forth the purposes of the 
order and praying that "such laws be passed as will render 
effectual the purposes of the Association." ^ 2 The society 
at its organization contained about fifty members, all of 
whom appear to have been slaveholders. ^^ A correspondent 
in the Lexington Observer the following month in commenting 
upon the society made this criticism of it: "The plan is too weak 
and ineffectual to accomplish much; for not many I apprehend, 
who own large numbers of slaves will join the society. Secondly 
it is too unequal ; for a few would bear all the burthen of the great 
work and all reap the benefits." ^ 4 Nothing further has been 
found concerniEg this society. In all probability no meeting 
was held after 1833. 

The societies of the early thirties are significant in that they 
were composed of slaveholders who regarded slavery not only 
as morally wrong but as hostile to the best interests of the state. 
Although their numerical strength was never great, the character 
of the men associated with them caused the undertaking to be 
seriously considered. The anti-slavery sentiment that existed 
at any given time or place can not be judged solely by the num- 
ber of members of such societies in the slave states. Regardless 
of their program such organizations were regarded with sus- 
picion and consequently many of the anti-slavery sympathizers 
and workers refused to join with them. Nor would the political 
leaders affiliate with them lest they should thereby counteract 
their own or their party's success. The fact that the anti-slav- 
ery societies of Kentucky at no time embraced in their member- 
ship more than one out of every two thousand voters, while the 
anti-slavery forces at all times previous to the Civil War repre- 
sented a strong minority in the legislature and at the polls sub- 
stantiates this point. 

Another type of anti-slavery organization commonly spoken 
of as Modern Abolitionism, or Garrisonian Abolitionism, 
which embraced immediate, unconditional emancipation on the 
soil, came into existence about 1830. While previous to this 

" LexiriRton Observer, February 24, 1832. 

» Niles" Weekly Resister, Vol. 42. p. 300. 

•« The Lexinpton Observer, March 2, 1832. The writer proposed a plan for le\'ying 
a tax of 1 per cent, upon slave property to be used for the transportation of free Negroes 
and manumitted slaves to Africa. 



Anti-Slavery Societies — Garrisoman Abolition 18^0-1840 73 

date these doctrines had been advocated by a number of men, ' » 
yet, owing to the state of public opinion both in the North and 
in the South on the subject of slavery, they had attracted no spe- 
cial attention. In the meantime, however, the South, on account 
of the extensive development of cotton planting and consequent- 
ly of slavery, was becoming more and more reconciled to the ex- 
istence of the institution, while the opposite conditions prevailed 
in the North, where the economic aspect of the question was dis- 
appearing and the moral aspect was demanding and receiving 
increased attention. 

This was the state of affairs in the country when William 
Lloyd Garrison identified himself with the movement about 1830. 
He was a remarkable man and his special abilities enabled him 
to take advantage of the achievements of the past thirty years 
and to utilize them to the fullest extent. He added a new inter- 
est and forcefulness to the movement. There was no mistak- 
ing his purposes when he declared in the first number of the Lib- 
erator that he would "be as harsh as truth, and as uncompromis- 
ing as justice. * * * i am in earnest; I will not equivocate; I will 
not excuse; I will not retreat a single inch and I will be heard." 3« 
This uncompromising program adopted and pursued by him im- 
mediately aroused the opposition of the South as well as that 
of a very large element in the North, and at the same time fired 
his followers with enthusiasm and determination. The move- 
ment spread rapidly into all sections of the North. 

The American Anti-Slavery Society advocating immediate 
emancipation was organized in 1833. Two years later it em- 
braced 225 auxiliary branches. But this was not accomplished 
without strenuous opposition, which often resulted iri riots and 
mob violence. ^ » 

The sentiment in the slave states was of course even more 
pronounced in its opposition to abolition propaganda, than in 

" Birney: "James G. Birney and His Times," p. 169. Adams: "Anti-Slavery in 
America," pp. 59-62, 80. 

The most important were Charles Osborne, George Bourne, John Rankin, and James 
Duncan. 

" The Liberator, January 1, 1831. 

" Clarke: "Anti-Slavery Days," p. 36; Birney: "James G. Birney and His Times," 
p. 142. 

•• Clarke: "Anti-Slavery Days," p. 36; Birney: "James G. Birney and His Times," 
p. 197. 

There were mobs all over the North, wherever anti-slavery missionaries went. July 
4, 1834, a mob in New York City sacked the house of Louis Tappan. At the same time, the 
■chool houses and churches of colored people were attacked and damaged. August 31, 1834, 
there was a riot in Philadelphia, which continued for three nights. Forty-four houses of 
Negroes were damaged or destroyed. Many blacks were beaten and cruelly injured and some 
were killed. In the year 1835 Rev. Samuel J. May was mobbed five times in the state of 
Vermont. October 21, 1835, there was a riot in Utica, N. Y., and another on the same day 
in the city of Boston, where the meeting of the Women's Anti-Slavery Society was broken 
up, and Garrison was carried through the streets with a rope around his body. 



74 71ie Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 18^0 

the North although in Kentucky the fears and suspicions of the 
people were not so early or so generally aroused on the subject 
as in other sections of the South. ^^ From the beginning of the 
Modern Abolition movement, however, the question constant- 
ly demanded and received more and more attention, especially 
after the abolitionists had begun an active participation in the 
internal affairs of the state. ^° 

Soon after the dissolution of the gradual emancipation soci- 
ety, James G. Birney, one of the most active and influential mem- 
bers of that body, espoused the cause of immediate abolition. 
On the 19th of March, 1835, a year frequently referred to by the 
writers on slavery as the "mob year," he was instrumental in 
organizing at Danville the Kentucky Anti-Slavery Society, aux- 
iliary to the American Anti-Slavery Society. The new organ- 
ization, which was composed of forty charter members, all of 
whom were non-slaveholders, although a number of them had 
only recently manumitted their slaves, elected Professor Buchanan 
of Centre College as president. ^ ^ 

The subject of immediate abolition was freely discussed in 
Danville for some time. Mr. Birney held a number of public 
debates with the Rev. J. C. Young. Little or no opposition was 
encountered at first, but the movement did not prosper as he had 
anticipated. In a letter to Gerrit Smith, March 21, 1835, Bir- 
ney made the following comment on the prospects of the society : 
"Immediate emancipation will have to be sustained here by the 
comparatively poor and humble. The aristocracy, created and 
sustained by slavery, will be ugly enemies — aye, and they will be 
so almost to our extermination." ^ 2 

Shortly after the organization of the society, Birney issued 
proposals for the publication at Danville of an abolition paper. 
The Philanthropist, the first number of which was to appear the 
1st of August. 4 3 No sooner had the principles of the society 
and of The Philanthropist and their connection with the Ameri- 

•• The Commonwealth, for December 26, 1838, declared that Kentucky had been 
passive while the southern states had been raising a great outcry, believing "that time and 
reflection would bring back those misguided and wicked disturbers of her repose to a sense 
of justice and propriety." 

« As early as April 24, 1835, the Louisville Pubhc Advertiser, one of the strongest 
pro-slavery papers in the state, made the following protest against northern interference in 
the domestic affairs of Kentucky: "Pamphlets and periodicals are published in the North 
and circulated in the South with a view to stir up ser\'ile war — and these publications are 
followed by attempts to prepare the public mind to refuse aid to the South in the event of an 
insurrection. The truth is, all this clamor against slaverj' — all the attempts that have been 
made to stir up a servile war, have originated in the public hostility of Northern politicians 
to the people of the slaveholding States." 

" Birney: "James G. Birney and His Times," pp. 156-157. See also The Liberator, 
May 16, 1835; Amos Dresser: "Narrative of Amos Dresser," p. 5. 

" Birney: "James G. Birney and his Times," p. 157. 

•• Ibid., p. 179. 



Anti-Slavery Societies — Garrisonian Abolition 18^0-1840 75 

can Anti-Slavery Society become known than opposition to the 
undertaking was expressed in all parts of the state. Mass meet- 
ings were held and resolutions adopted in which the citizens pre- 
sent pledged themselves to prevent the publication of The Phil- 
anthropist "peaceably if we can, forcibly if we must." Threats 
of violence were made against any and all men who should coun- 
tenance the paper or aid in its circulation. A mass meeting at 
Danville appointed an executive committee of thirty-three per- 
sons to address to Mr. Birney a letter of remonstrance and to 
"take such other steps as might be necessary." 44 Jn this letter, 
dated July 12, occurs the following significant passage: "We ad- 
dress you now in the calmness and candor that should charac- 
terize law-abiding men, as willing to avoid violence as they are 
willing to meet extremity, and advise you of the peril that must 
and inevitably will attend the execution of your purpose. We 
propose to you to postpone the setting up of your press and the 
publication of your paper until application can be had to the 
Legislature, who will by a positive law set rules for your observ- 
ance, or, by a refusal to act, admonish us of our duty. We ad- 
monish you, sir, as citizens of the same neighborhood, as members 
of the same society in which you live and move, and for whose 
harmony and quiet we feel the most sincere solicitude, to beware 
how you make an experiment here which no American slavehold- 
ing community has found itself able to bear."^^ 

Mr. Birney flatly refused to accede to this proposition^^ 
whereupon the committee bought out the printer and threat- 
ened to use violence against anyone who should engage himself 
to assist in this undertaking. ^ 7 Encouraged by the Postmaster 
General, Amos Kendall, the postmaster at Danville, declared his 
intention of excluding the publication from the mails. *» By the 
middle of September it had become manifest to Mr. Birney that 
an anti-slavery paper could not be published at Danville.*^ 
Shortly afterward he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he en- 
tered even more actively into anti-slavery work. ^ His departure 
marked the disappearance of the Kentucky Anti-Slavery Society. 



*' Birney: "James G. Birney and His Times," p. 180. 

«' Bimey: "James G. Birney and His Times," pp. 180-181. This letter was written 
by a Whig member of Congress. 

«• Ibid., p. 181. 

" Ibid., p. 182. 

" Ibid., p. 184. 

" Ibid., p. 183. 

w See "Narrative of the Late Riotous Proceedings against the Liberty of the Press in 
Cincinnati by the Executive Committee of the Ohio Anti-Slavery Society," Pamphlet. At 
Cincinnati he began the publication of The Philanthropist. After a few numbers, however, 
had been issued the printing establishment was destroyed by a mob Eind he was again forced 
to move in order to continue the publication of the paper. 



76 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

Brief as was its existence the organization and activities of 
this society produced a profound impression upon the people of 
Kentucky. Modem abolition had become a real issue and all 
classes, regardless of creed or party, joined in its condemnation. 
Determined to check the spread of the doctrine, they organized 
secret societies in various parts of the state with the avowed ob- 
ject of protecting the constitutional rights of the people from the 
encroachments of the North. Sectional jealousy, which had not 
been pronounced in Kentucky previous to this date, seemed now 
to be in process of formation. 

From the point of view of the historian the effect of Garri- 
sonian abolition upon the anti-slavery sentiment in Kentucky 
must be regarded as particularly significant. While substantial 
progress toward emancipation was being made in the early thir- 
ties the reaction against immediate abolition stayed all progress 
toward gradual emancipation and caused the state to range it- 
self alongside the other slaveholding states in resistance to ag- 
gression from without. Some evidence of this is found in the 
attitude of the churches and of the religious press. 

In 1835 the annual conference of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church in Kentucky adopted resolutions, in which it ar- 
raigned the abolitionists and the anti-slavery associations by 
whose acts "the peace and quiet of a large portion of the nation 
are disturbed, and their common interest, laws and safety placed 
in jeopardy." 5 1 

An extract from an editorial in the Baptist Banner (Ken- 
tucky) for the same year indicates the reasons for this opposi- 
tion. "There has been considerable excitement of late in the 
southern and western portions of our country, in relation to the 
efforts of certain meddling individuals to effect the abolition of 
slavery. We do not know that it may be the purview of a re- 
ligious periodical to notice these movements. But as the agi- 
tators of this subject make religion a cloak to subserve their 
ends, it becomes its professors everywhere to condemn it. We 
will not pretend to discuss the question of slavery. That it is 
an evil — a curse, we admit and deplore. But while we admit this, 
we condemn as irreligious and as tending to the worst conse- 
quences the course pursued by the abolitionists. * * * It is 

" Redford: "Western Cavaliers," p. 149. The Methodist General Conference which 
met at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1836, passed a resolution bitterly opposing modern abolitionism. 
They further disclaimed any riKht, wish or intention to interfere in the civil and political 
relations between master and slave as they existed in the slaveholding states. The opinion 
of the Conference was expressed against any further agitation of the subject in the General 
Conference. Journals of the General Conferences. 



Anti-Slavery Societies — Garrisonian Abolition 18^0-1840 77 

not to the master but to the slave they speak. They use every 
endeavor to put their incendiary publications into the hands of 
the slave to arouse him to a sense of his wrongs and to excite 
him to a vindication of his rights. * * * Tell us not that Chris- 
tianity favors such things. There were slaves in the days of the 
Saviour and He was not an abolitionist. * * * The apostles 
said, 'Be obedient to your masters.' * * * Taking this as our 
rule of judgment when we see men whose acts are calculated 
to excite the slaves to the worst and most horrid deeds of 
rapine and bloodshed we can not call them misguided philan- 
thropists or enthusiastic Christians; but revolutionists and 
assassins." ^2 

The Western Presbyterian Herald in reviewing the prin- 
ciples advocated by the abolitionists said: "These sentiments 
are plainly subversive to all government, and are too deeply dan- 
gerous, corrupting and revolutionary to be promulgated under 
the sanction of any society which cherishes the expectation of 
receiving a portion of the public favor and of doing good to any 
portion of mankind. * * * Freedom of speech is to be dis- 
tinguished from licentiousness. No man has a moral right to 
use the power of speech in defiance of reason and revelation, 
or to disseminate through the press doctrines as obnoxious to 
the interests of society as those which characterized the French 
Revolution, and which disgrace the worst infidel school of the 
day." 5 3 

There seems to have been a uniform impression among the 
great majority of the citizens of the state, that the abolition 
movement was wrong as it stood related to the political fabric, 
but the exact character of the wrong was not so well defined in 
the public mind as to enable the people to see how a remedy 
could be applied to arrest and control the mischief that appeared 

" Baptist Banner, October 3, 1835. See also September 19, 1835. In 1835, at Nash- 
ville, Tennessee, a vigilance committee, composed of sixty members, twenty-seven of whom 
were church members, including one ordained minister and a number of deacons of the various 
churches, tried and publicly whipped Amos Dresser, a young theological student, on the 
charge of circulating anti-slavery literature. He was engaged in selling the "Cottage" Bible 
during his vacation. Being a member of an anti-slavery society in Ohio, he had thoughtlessly 
carried some of its publications with him and these were found in his possession. Nashville 
Banner, August 12, 1835; Amos Dresser: "Narrative of Amos Dresser," pp. 1-6. 

a Western Presbyterian Herald, September 28, 1837. The Commonwealth for August 
29, 1835, gives the following explanation for the attitude of the South toward the abolitionists: 
"In times of great excitement strong measures most usually prevail and the abolitionists have 
been told of a doom which awaits them should they dare penetrate beyond the limits of the 
slave states. That death, instant and terrible, will await tampering with the slaves is certain. 
Can the South be blamed for this? Assuredly not. Self-protection is the law of nature which 
will assert its supremacy at every hazard. So long as the domestic relations continue to bind 
man to man — so long as the security in the possession of property is esteemed an essential 
right, nien will protect the one from invasion and the other from plunder. That slavery is 
an evil, no people know better than those people who own slaves. They know, too, what are 
the depths of its roots — -what would be the consequences of its instant abolition." 

For further references on this subject see the numbers for April 18, November 14 and 
December 26, 1838. 



78 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

to be growing out of this agitation. Any examination of the 
newspapers and the Hterature during the years between 1830 
and 1840 shows conclusively that the people of Kentucky were 
practically unanimous in their opposition to modern abolition- 
ism. The activities of the abolitionists and the abuses heaped 
upon them by the papers in all parts of the country naturally 
culminated in mob violence, as has been noted. The papers 
in Kentucky, as elsewhere, were exceedingly severe in their de- 
nunciations and in many instances made threats that might 
easily be construed as sanctioning radical action though they 
consistently opposed mob violence. ^-^ In 1837 the Louisville 
Journal declared that the abolitionists could be defeated only 
by "moderation, truth, tolerance — that these are the only 
means to disarm them of their fanatical doctrines and that vio- 
lence, outrage and persecution will infallibly inflame their zeal, 
enlarge their numbers and increase the power of their dangerous 
doctrines." ^5 The Western Presbyterian Herald, a paper that 
strongly condemned abolition, voiced the attitude of the Ken- 
tucky press when it said: "The liberty of the press should be 
sustained; mob violence should be discountenanced, not for the 
sake of abolitionism, nor in fact for the sake of any other cause 
good or bad, but for the sake of truth and righteousness and for 
the great principle of civil and political liberty." s® 

n Western Presbyterian Herald, November 30, 1837. An editorial in this number 
stated that the papers in Kentucky had opposed mob violence in dealing with the abolitionists. 
The papers were unanimous in their condemnation of the action of the mob at Alton, lU., 
some of which characterized the act as murder. See Clarke: "Anti-Slavery Days," p. 25; 
Philanthropist, November 21, 28, 1837. 

" IvOuisviUe Journal, November 11, 1837. 

'• Western Presbyterian Herald, January 25, 1838. Maysville Eagle, November 18. 
1837, took a similar view. 



THE KENTUCKY CHURCHES AND SLAVERY 

1830-1850 



CHAPTER VI 



The sentiment in favor of the aboHtion of slavery, which 
was general during the early thirties, found expression, as has 
been seen above, through the colonization and anti-slavery 
societies. But the outstanding features of the history of the 
anti-slavery movement in Kentucky between 1830 and 1850 are 
the attitude of the churches toward slavery, the passage of the 
non-importation law in 1833, the effort to secure its repeal, 
and the final effort and the failure to effect emancipation in the 
constitutional convention of 1849. The present chapter will 
be devoted to a discussion of the attitude of the churches toward 
slavery during this period. ^ 

The duty of looking after the spiritual welfare of the slaves 
devolved upon the churches. There were few churches in the 
South that did not have Negro communicants; and in some 
instances the colored members outnumbered the white. 2 

The Methodists and the Baptists, the principal denom- 
inations in the South, always paid a great deal of attention 
to the religious welfare of slaves. Consequently, the Negro 
was attracted to those churches. Their doctrines he compre- 
hended easily, and the emotional character of the service ap- 
pealed to him. In the Methodist church, ministers were ap- 
pointed each year to devote their entire time to missionary 
work among the slaves, thus securing a powerful hold on them.^ 

The Methodists of Kentucky appear to have been as dili- 
gent in the enforcement of the rules laid down by the General 

> See supra, pp. 20-24, 34-42. 

' Spencer: "History of the Kentucky Baptists," Vol. 1, p. 742; Vol. 2, p. 158. Of 
the 697 members of the Louisville Baptist Church in 1841, 559 were colored. {Ibid., Vol. 
2, p. 21). In 1861 the Elkhorn Association (Baptists) had 7,760 members, of whom 5,089 
werecolored. Seealso J. G. Birney: "American Churches the Bulwark of American Slavery," 
p. 24; Collins: "Historical Sketches of Kentucky," p. 131. The slave membership of the 
Methodist Church in Kentucky was 8 per cent in 1790 and 23 per cent, in 1845. 

' H. N. McTyeire: "History of Methodism," p. 584. The following announcement was 
published in "The Directory of the City of Lexington, Kentucky," for 1838-39, p. 85: "Divine 
service at eleven o'clock and at candle light every Sunday. This church is under the care 
of the Rev. Isaiah Whitaker, Missionary to the people of color." See also, Matlack: "History 
of American Slavery and Methodism," p. 32; Birney: "American Churches the Bulwark of 
American Slavery," p. 2. According to Birney there were in the United States in 1840 about 
2,700,000 slaves of whom about 200,000 were church members, divided among the denomi- 
nations about as follows: Baptist, 80,000; Methodist, 80,000; and other denominations, 
40,000, most of whom were Presbyterians. 



80 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

Conferences on the subject of slavery as those in any other section 
of the South. During the latter part of the eighteenth and the 
early years of the nineteenth centuries, the anti-slavery element 
was especially active in the Methodist church. * This activity, 
however, as a result of the increased importance of slavery 
and the passage of hostile legislation by many of the southern 
states, became less and less pronounced during the first half 
of the nineteenth century. This changed attitude is very 
evident in the action of the General Conference of the church, 
which was held at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1836, when by a vote of 
120 to 14 the Conference disclaimed any intention to interfere 
with the civil and the political relations of master and slave as 
they existed in the slave states of the Union. By a vote of 120 
to 1 1 , abolitionism and the work of abolitionists were condemned 
in equally strong terms and two members of the Conference, 
who had attended and lectured at an abolition meeting in Cin- 
cinnati the preceding night, were publicly censured. ^ The 
Discipline, which still strongly condemned slavery, remained 
unchanged, although little effort was made to enforce it in this 
respect. 

After 1830 some anti-slavery activity continued to be 
displayed in local churches or conferences in Kentucky, but 
it soon showed signs of decadence and by 1840 it had almost 
entirely disappeared. Occasionally special cases were brought 
before the local conferences for consideration, when the rules of 
the General Conference were necessarily taken into account. 
One of these cases occured in the Kentucky Conference as late 
as 1837, when Thomas Lasley, a prominent and influential 
minister, was tried by that body for having violated the rules 
of the church regarding slavery, as he had come into possession 
of a number of slaves through the will of his deceased father. 
The committee in charge of the case according to "former 
usages of the Conference in similar cases" recommended that 
Mr. Lasley be required to issue deeds of emancipation for the : 
slaves in question as soon after the adjournment of the Confer- 
ence as was practicable. The report of the committee was 
adopted by the Conference. ^ 

From this date until the division of the General Con- 
ference in 1844 into the Northern and the Southern Con- 



• See supra, pp. 20, 2 1. .^4, 35. 

' McTyeire: "History of Methodism," p. 602. See also Birney: "American Churches 
The Bulwark of American Slavery," p. 9f. Quarterly American Anti-Slavery Magazine, July, 
1837, p. 378; "Report of the Second Anniversary of the Ohio Anti-Slavery Society," Pamphlet, 
1837, p. 27. 

• Redford: "Western Cavaliers." pp. 202-203. 



The Kentucky Churches and Slavery — 18^0-18^0 81 

ferences, no important action was taken on the question of 
slavery by the annual conferences of Kentucky. While 
the Kentucky delegates in the General Conference almost 
unanimously supported the southern churches, many of them 
both in the Conference and in Kentucky during the following 
year endeavored to re-establish harmonious relations between 
the contending factions. "^ Henry Clay, although not a member 
of the Methodist Church, used his influence to prevent a divi- 
sion of the church. His attitude, as well as that of many Method- 
ists of Kentucky, is clearly expressed in a letter dated April 
7, 1845, and addressed to a certain prominent Methodist of 
the South, in which he said, "I will not say that such a separa- 
tion would necessarily produce a dissolution of the political 
Union of these states; but the example would be fraught with 
imminent danger and in co-operation with other causes un- 
fortunately existing, its tendency on the stability of the Con- 
federacy would be perilous and alarming. * * * With fer- 
vent hopes and wishes that some arrangement of the difficulty 
may be devised and agreed upon which shall preserve the church 
in union and harmony," he closed his earnest appeal. « 

Unfortunately the efforts of Clay and others in behalf 
of peace were of no avail, and in 1845 the Kentucky Annual 
Conference by a decided majority endorsed the action of their 
delegates of the preceding year and definitely threw in their 
lot with the newly formed Methodist Episcopal Church, South. ^ 
There were a few instances in which individual churches con- 
tinued their relations with the northern branch of the church 
and numerous instances in which individual members refused 
to affiHate with the southern branch, i" This was especially 
true of the counties along the northern border of the state. 

From 1845 until the opening of the Civil War, the policy 
of the Kentucky Conference remained unchanged in regard 
to slavery, although numerous individual members of the church 
continued to work for constitutional emancipation. Six members 
of the Emancipation Convention, which met at Frankfort, 
April 25, 1849, were Methodist ministers. ^^ 

' Niles* Weekly Register, Vol. 66, pp. 192, 208, 240, 256; Vol. 68, pp. 166, 167, 186; 
Vol. 69, p. 55; The Liberator, October 17, 1845. 

» Niles' Weekly Register, Vol. 68, p. 149. 

« Maysville Eagle, May 14, 24, 1849; Niles' Weekly Register, Vol. 68, pp. 166-167. 
186. The vote in the Kentucky Conference was 98 to 5 for separation from the Northern 
Church (Niles' Weekly Register, Vol. 69. p. SS). 

i» Niles' Weekly Register, Vol. 68, p. 334; The Liberator, June 27, September 12, 
1845. April 17, 1846. 

" See below, note 91, p. 130. 



82 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to i8jO 

The same acceptance of slavery as an institution and the 
same reluctance to enter upon dangerous agitation are seen in 
the other leading churches of Kentucky. The attitude of the 
Baptists of Kentucky toward anti-slavery work is well stated 
in an editorial in the Baptist Banner in 1835. In commenting 
upon the action of the Northern Baptist Association which 
declared "the practice of holding men in slavery to be a violation 
of the natural rights of man and contrary to the first principles 
of the Gospel," the Banner objected to the statement because it 
"virtually declares non-fellowship for those associations and 
churches in which slavery is tolerated," and because "it tends to 
introduce among the Baptists the discussion of the most exciting 
and dangerous question that ever agitated the country," and 
lastly because it is "calculated to do the cause of emanci- 
pation itself more harm than good." 12 The Kentucky asso- 
ciations, since the early part of the century, had consistently 
refused to be drawn into the slavery controversy and used 
their influence to prevent the individual churches from doing so. 
The individual members were left free to act as their consciences 
dictated. 13 When the northern branches of the church found 
how completely their southern brethren had yielded to the 
powerful social pressure of their local life, they made a vigorous 
but vain attempt to correct the tendency. In 1844-45, the 
Baptists of the East and those of the upper Northwest refused to 
co-operate with southern churches in their insistence upon the 
right to send out missionaries who owned slaves. A Southern 
Baptist church was the immediate result. ^ * 

At a meeting of the Baptist clergy and laity of Kentucky 
at Shelbyville, in 1845, it was decided that the Kentucky Bap- 
tists should identify themselves with the southern branch of 
the church. 1^ Little or no opposition was manifested to this 
action. 

While the Presbyterian churches of Kentucky attracted a 
smaller proportion of slaves than either the Methodist or the 
Baptist, they were always much interested in the Negro's 
welfare. Their efforts in his behalf during the late twenties 
have been described in the preceding pages. * ^ These efforts 
continued unabated during the remainder of the existence of 

" The Baptist Banner. December 19, 1835. 

" See supra, pp. 19ff. 37-42. 

'« Niles' Weekly Register, Vol. 66, p. 192. 

'» Maysville Eafile, June 18, 1845; Niles' Weekly Register, Vol. 68, p. 272. The 
proceedings, including the resolutions adopted, are given in the Frankfort Commonwealth, 
June 24, 1845. 

'• See supra, pp. 36, 37. 



The Kentucky Churches and Slavery — i8jo-i8^o 83 

slavery. In 1831 the West Lexington Presbytery again reminded 
the churches embraced in its membership that it was the duty 
of masters and mistresses to have their servants taught to read 
the word of God. They were instructed to pay especial attention 
to the young slaves so that none should be permitted to grow 
up without being able to read and they were instructed to give 
a Bible to every slave as soon as he was able to read it. ^ '" This 
is very different from the spirit manifested in the columns of 
the Southern Religious Telegraph, a Presbyterian paper in 
Richmond, Virginia, which would prohibit the instruction of 
slaves in reading, and prevent the circulation of the Bible 
among them, lest on learning to read it "they might be induced 
to read bad books." is 

Sentiment in Kentucky was, however, by no means unan- 
imous in this regard. Schools established solely for Negroes 
were often broken up or the promoters were intimidated, in a 
few instances as a result of force, into giving up the work.^^ 
An undated manuscript found in the Draper Manuscript col- 
lection is worthy of mention because of its frank expression 
in this connection of the dangers which many apprehended from 
the education of the slaves. "Previous to their adjournment 
the Grand Jury feel themselves irresistibly impelled by a sense 
of their duty, to present as an evil of the most serious and 
portentious character, the school which has recently been 
established in the town of Lexington for the education of the 
slaves. * * * Xhe Grand Jury do not consider it either 
necessary or proper in this place, to detail the manifold evils 
which inevitably must result from enlightening the minds of 
those whose happiness obviously depends on their ignorance, 
and whose discontent, under the presence of their bonds, must 
keep pace with the progressive illumination of their minds.* * 
Solemnly impressed with these awful forebodings of future evils 
the Grand Jury seriously calls upon the Ministers of the law 
to exert their authority in suppressing the institution of which 



" Liberator, April 30, 1831; see also Western Luminary, January 24, 1827, June 3, 1829; 
Rev. John Young: "The Duty of Masters," pamphlet, p. 35; Western Presbyterian Herald, 
January 4, 1838. 

'» The Liberator, April 30, 1831, quoted. Although there was no law in Kentucky 
prohibiting the teaching of slaves, the pro-slavery element always displayed considerable 
opposition to the practice. See John Rankin: "Letters on Slavery," p. 24; Western Citizen. 
October 9, 1824; J. G. Birney: "American Churches, the Bulwark of American Slavery," 
p. 4. 

>» Western Presbyterian Herald, September 28, 1837; Davidson: "History of the 
Presbyterian Church," p. 340. The acts were usually committed by "Vigilance Commit- 
tees" that had been organized in various parts of the State for protection against the_ ag- 
gressions of the North and for putting down or preventing any slave insurrection that might 
result therefrom. 



84 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 18^0 

they complain." 20 No other reference has been found either 
to the presentment of the grand jury or to any action by the 
government, but the complaint may have been directed against 
one of the schools established by the Presbyterians of Lexington, 
since Lexington was a Presbyterian stronghold. 

Slavery came before the Synod of Kentucky in 1832 when 
the anti-slavery members endeavored to secure the adoption 
of severe rules condemning slavery. Among the proposals 
before the body was the following: "Resolved, That it is the 
view of this Synod that slavery, as it exists within our bounds, 
is a great moral evil, and inconsistent with the word of God, 
and we do, therefore, recommend to all our ministers and members 
who hold slaves, to endeavor to have them instructed in the 
knowledge of the Gospel and to promote, in every peaceable way, 
the interests of the Colonization Society, and to favor all 
proper measures for gradual voluntary emancipation." After 
considerable discussion, the resolution was laid on the table 
until the following year, when it was again brought before the 
Synod for consideration. By a vote of 41 to 36 the following 
substitute was offered and carried: "Inasmuch as in the judg- 
ment of this Synod, it is inexpedient to come to any decision 
on the very difficult and delicate question of slavery, as it ex- 
ists within our bounds, therefore, Resolved, That the whole 
question is indefinitely postponed." 2 1 Upon the passage of this 
resolution Robert J. Breckinridge, one of the most active op- 
ponents of slavery in the Synod, arose from his seat in the center 
of the house and taking his hat in his hands walked rapidly 
toward the door, saying, "God has left you, and I also will 
now leave you, and have no more correspondence with you." 22 

But the question of slavery was not to remain so quietly 
disposed of. The Synod of Kentucky, in 1833, passed a reso- 
lution, "That the Synod believe that the system of absolute 
and hereditary domestic slavery, as it exists among the members 
of our communion, repugnant to the principles of our holy 
religion, * * * and that the continuation of the system any 
longer than is necessary to prepare itself for its safe and bene- 
ficial termination is sinful." The Presbyteries and church 
sessions and people under their care were earnestly recommended 

*> Draper Collection of Kentucky Manuscripts, Vol. 7, Worsley Papers. Worsley 
was a newspaper owner and writer of considerable importance. 

" Davidson: "History of the Presbyterian Church," p. 338; William L. Breckinridge 
signed the resolution as Moderator. 

" Wickliffe: "Reply of Robert Wickliffe to Robert J. Breckinridge***," Pamphlet, 
1841, p. 60f. 



The Kentucky Churches and Slavery — 1830-18^0 85 

to commence immediate preparations for the termination of 
slavery among them, "so that this evil may cease to exist with 
the present generation and the future offspring of our slaves 
may be free." 2 3 Further, the Synod by a vote of 56 to 8 
appointed a committee of ten to prepare a plan for the instruc- 
tion and future emancipation of slaves. The committee were: 
Hon. John Brown, chairman; Judge Green, J. C. Young, Thomas 
Porter Smith, Esq., Charles N. Cunningham, Esq., J. R. 
Alexander, Esq., Rev. Robert Stuart, Rev. James K. Burch, 
Rev. Nathan H. Hall, and Rev. W. L. Breckinridge, men of 
strong characters and of wide influence. 2 4 

It is probable that this action was due in large measure 
to James G. Birney. Shortly before the meeting of the Synod, 
Birney, who was a prominent Presbyterian, sent a circular 
letter to the ministers and elders of the Presbyterian Church 
of the state, in which he bitterly attacked the institution of 
slavery and endeavored to point out the proper course for the 
church to take. ^ 5 He also talked freely along these lines 
with numerous members of the Synod. ^^ The action taken 
by the Synod compared with the ideas held by Mr. Birney at 
that time indicates that his influence must have been very 
great. The Presbyterian Church of Kentucky, although not 
so large in membership as either the Methodist or the Baptist, 
contained many of the leading men of the state. Consequently, 
any action by that body carried with it unusual influence. 

In 1835, the committee published its proposed plan in a 
pamphlet of 64 pages, which had been written by J. C. Young, 
the president of Centre College of Danville, Kentucky, and 
approved by the other members of the committee. The ad- 
dress was an able document. It took a strong and decided 
stand in favor of gradual emancipation. After fearlessly 
pointing out the numerous evils of slavery and answering ob- 
jections that were commonly raised the author recommended the 
following plan: "The master to retain, during a limited period, 
and with regard to the real welfare of the slave, that authority 
which he had before held, in perpetuity, and solely for his own 
interest. Let the full liberty of the slave be secured against all 
contingences, by a recorded deed of emancipation to take effect 

=' Davidson: "History of the Presbyterian Church," p. 338; Emancipator. October 
26. 1837, November 4, 1834. 

=< Davidson: "Histor>- of the Presbyterian Church," p. 338; J. G. Birney: "American 
Churches The Bulwark of American Slavery," pp. 25-26. 

" J. G. Birney: "Letter to the Churches, to the Ministers and Elders of the Presby- 
terian Church of Kentucky," September 2, 1834. Pamplilet of 24 pages. 

" Birney: "James G. Birney and His Times," p. 146. 



86 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

at a specified time. In the meanwhile, let the servant be treated 
with kindness — let all those things which degrade him be re- 
moved — let him enjoy means of instruction — let his moral and 
religious improvement be sought — let his prospects be presented 
before him, to stimulate him to acquire those habits of fore- 
sight, economy, industry, activity, skill and integrity, which will 
fit him for using well the liberty he soon is to enjoy. 

"1. We recommend that all slaves now under 20 years of 
age, and all those yet to be born in our possession, be emanci- 
pated as they severally reach their 25th year. 

"2. We recommend that deeds of emancipation be now 
drawn up, and recorded in our respective county courts, speci- 
fying the slaves whom we are about to emancipate, and the age 
at which each is to become free. 

"3. We recommend that our slaves be instructed in the 
common elementary branches of education. 

"4. We recommend that strenuous and persevering efforts 
be made to induce them to attend regularly upon the ordinary 
services of religion, both domestic and public. 

"5. We recommend that great pains be taken to teach 
them the Holy Scriptures; and that, to effect this, the instru- 
mentality of Sabbath-Schools, wherever they can be enjoyed, be 
united with that of domestic instruction. 

"These are measures which all ought to adopt; and we know 
of no peculiarity of circumstances in the case of any individual, 
which can free him from culpability if he neglects them." 2 7 

The report of the committee was never acted upon by the 
Synod of Kentucky, although it was published in the Western 
Luminary and various other papers in Kentucky and elsewhere. 
The report of the committee was far in advance of public senti- 
ment in the slave states. The Maysville Intelligencer, a Pres- 
byterian paper published at Maysville, Tennessee, was not 
permitted to publish the entire report of the committee because 
of a law recently passed in that state making it a penitentiary 
offense to receive or publish any anti-slavery paper or pamphlet 
in the state; and parts of this report were considered to be in 
this class by the state censor. In 1836, the General Assembly of 
the Presbyterian Church, in its annual meeting at Pittsburg, in 



" "An Address to the Presbyterians of Kentucky, Proposing a Plan for the Instruc- 
tion and Emancipation of their Slaves, by a Committee of the Synod of Kentucky," Pamphlet. 

It is an interestinfi fact that the plan of gradual emancipation proposed by the gradual 
emancipation societies, described above, is almost identical with this plan. A comparison 
of the names shows that the same men were back of both movements. 

Davidson: "History of the Presbyterian Church," pp. 339-340. 



The Kentucky Churches and Slavery — i8^o-i8§o 87 

answer to numerous memorials on the subject of slavery, de- 
cided that slavery was a political question and that any action 
of the General Assembly with reference to slavery could only 
tend to divide the church. 2 « 

The position of the Presbyterian Church had come to be 
almost identical with that of the Baptists and the Methodist 
Episcopal Churches. The churches, acting partly from a fear 
inspired by the Garrisonian abolitionists and partly from a 
conviction that slavery was an established fact, were for some 
years to show little interest in emancipation. 

The anti-abolition campaign which was so successful in 
preventing anti-slavery discussions and work in the state during 
the thirties, lost most of its force during the early forties, when 
free discussion was resumed and continued with few interrup- 
tions. This change in sentiment was the result partly of the re- 
newal of the demand for the calling of a constitutional convention 
with which the question of gradual emancipation was asso- 
ciated. This subject will be discussed in Chapter ix. 

The churches again took up the question of colonization and 
education of the slaves and used their influence to encourage 
voluntary emancipation. In 1845, the Synod of Kentucky 
adopted a resolution in favor of the education of the slaves of 
the state which was copied from a similar resolution adopted 
by the Presbytery of Georgia the preceding year. 2 9 In 1846, 
the Presbyterian Herald, the leading Presbyterian journal in 
the state, after approving the resolution came out in opposition 
to any further agitation of the question, ^o 

Although the church as an organization refused to be drawn 
into the slavery controversy after this date, the members of 
'this church were the leaders in the campaign in 1848 and 1849 for 
the constitutional abolition of slavery. In the emancipation 
convention held in Frankfort, April 25, 1849, thirteen of the 150 
delegates were Presbyterian ministers. A writer in the Prentice 
Review (Louisville) in October, 1849, asserted that "the Pres- 
byterians have taken the lead in the struggle. There is not 
a prominent man in the Synod of Kentucky who has not been 
conspicuous for his zeal and efforts in behalf of emancipation.* * 
* * As far as we know, there is not a single Presbyterian min- 
ister whose name is found among the advocates of slavery." ^i 

" Niles' Weekly Register, Vol. 50, p. 25. 

" The Liberator, Januarj' 17, 1845. The plan for the education of the slaves adopted 
by the Georgia Presbytery was printed in pamphlet form, a copy of which is in the Breckin- 
ridge papers for 1845. 

'<> The Presbyterian Herald, October 22, 1846. 

5 1 The Prentice Review, October, 1849. 



THE NON-IMPORTATION LAW OF 1833 AND THE 
EFFORTS TO SECURE ITS REPEAL 



CHAPTER VII 



Other indications of the course of pubHc opinion with 
respect to slavery, in the thirties and forties, is found in the 
efforts in the legislature to secure the passage of laws that were 
intended to bring about either directly or indirectly the final 
abolition of slavery. These bills were of two classes — first, 
those intended to limit or to prohibit the importation of slaves 
into the state, and second, those intended to secure the aboli- 
tion of slavery by means of a constitutional provision. This 
chapter will be concerned with the passage of the Non-Impor- 
tation Law of 1833 and the efforts to secure its repeal. 

The domestic slave trade does not appear to have been of 
much consequence in Kentucky before 1815. ^ Soon after this 
date, however, a considerable business seems to have grown up 
with the southern states where cotton planting was being de- 
veloped on a very large scale. The unusual demand for slave 
labor caused an extensive trade to be established between the 
border states, where slave labor could be employed to little 
advantage, and the lower, or the cotton South, ^ where it 
was very profitable. 

We have no means of determining definitely the extent to 
which Kentucky was engaged in this trade. As early as 1818, 
Estwick Evans 3 and Henry Bradshaw Fearon,^ both of whom 
traveled extensively in the West, spoke of a large number of 
slaves that were being sent down the Mississippi River to the 

1 W. H. Collins: "Domestic Slave Trade," p. 40. 

» A letter published in the Western Luminary in 1827 and copied in the Genius of 
Universal Emancipation, September 15, 1827, says that the border States where "tobacco 
or grain is the staple are now nurseries which support the cotton grounds with human flesh. 
In consequence of this there is nearly as great a slave trade floating annually on the Mississippi 
or its branches as ever was wafted across the Atlantic. The raising and transporting of slaves 
to perish on the cotton and sugar lands is what keeps up the value in Kentucky." J. F. 
Rhodes: "History of the United States," Vol. 1, p. 315. In a speech before the Colonization 
Society in 1829 (Report of the Executive Committee of the American Anti-Slavery Society. 
Pamphlet, p. 17) Henry Clay said: "It is believed that nowhere in the farming portion 
of the United States would slave labor be generally employed, if the proprietors were not 
tempted to raise slaves for the Southern markets which keeps it up in his own." 

» Estwick Evans: "A Pedestriou's Tour," p. 216, in speaking of the extent of the 
traffic in slaves in the city of Natchez, says: "There is no branch of trade in this part of the 
country more brisk and profitable than that of buying and selling slaves. They are a subject 
of continual speculation and are daily brought together with other live stock from Kentucky 
and other places to Natchez and the New Orleans markets." 

* Fearon: "Sketches of America," p. 268. He speaks of having seen fourteen flat 
boats loaded with slaves from Kentucky, where they had been collected by dealers from the 
border States. 



i 



Non-Importation Law, iS^S — Efforts to Secure Its Repeal 89 

southern markets. In different parts of Kentucky, dealers 
were located who bought up slaves in that and the adjoining states 
and shipped them in large gangs to the South. ^ The Hon. 
Robert Wickliffe, in a speech in the Kentucky Legislature, 
in 1840, estimated that over 60,000 slaves had been exported 
from Kentucky alone during the preceeding seven years. « This 
estimate is doubtless too large. The evidence, however, seems 
to indicate that such sales exceeded 5,000 per year. In addition to 
the large number of slaves annually sent out of the state, there 
was also a considerable importation of slaves from Virginia 
and Maryland as well as a large traffic in slaves within the state. 

No aspect of slavery was more objectionable to the great 
majority of the people of Kentucky than that of buying and 
selling slaves for profit. There were those, however, who were 
willing to endure the contempt that was almost universally 
heaped upon the domestic slave trader in order to reap the 
large profits derived from the business. There were those 
also in every community who, though recognizing the inhu- 
manity of the slave trade, would, when necessity demanded — 
and many such demands were made — buy or sell a slave or 
slaves as their interests might dictate. 

Petitions were sent repeatedly to Congress from Kentucky 
and other parts of the Union asking that body, which, according 
to the federal constitution, had control over interstate trade, 
to prohibit the inhuman and odious traffic in slaves. Congress, 
however, adopted the theory that its authority was limited to 
the regulation of and not to the prohibition of interstate trade. 
Since slaves were regarded by the laws of the United States 
and of the several slave states as property, it had no power to 
prohibit citizens from taking them either into a state or out of 
it. Consequently it did not act on the subject.'^ The indi- 
vidual states, therefore, possessed the power of regulating all 
trade within their bounds. Each could also limit or even pro- 
hibit the importation of slaves, though it had no authority 

• John Rankin: "Letters on Slavery," pp. 45-46. Rankin mentions a number of men 
who engaged in the slave trade as a regular business. (1822). See also Genius of Universal 
Emancipation, October, 1822, and Fearon: "Sketches of America," p. 268. 

' Cassius M. Clay: "Review of the Late Canvass," p. 8f. Clay accepted these figures. 
J. C. Ballaugh: "History of Slavery in Virginia," p. 25, gives the exportation of slaves from 
Virginia as 6,000 annually. 

' This position is clearly set forth by Henri' Clay in a speech in the United States Senate 
on "Abolition Petitions," February 7, 1839, (Annals of Congress, 1839. Vol. 7, p. 354), when 
he said: "But I deny that the general government has any authority whatever from the 
Constitution to abolish what is called the slave trade, or in other words to prohibit the removal 
of slaves from one state to another slave state. The grant in the constitution is of a power 
of regulation, and not prohibition. The regulation intended was designed to facilitate and 
accommodate, not obstruct and incommodate the commerce to be regulated.*** The moment 
the incontestable fact is admitted that negro slaves are property, the law of movable property 
irresistibly attaches itself to them and secures the right of carrying from one to another state." 



90 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 18^0 

over their exportation. Laws regulating and limiting the 
importation of slaves were passed at different times by most 
of the slave states. The constitution of Kentucky, adopted 
in 1792, instructed the legislature to prohibit the importation 
into the state of all slaves that had been brought into the United 
States from any foreign country since 1789. ^ An act designed 
to accomplish that end was passed in 1794^ and amended in 
1815.10 These laws, while limiting and regulating importa- 
tions from other states, embodied a long list of exceptions, 
which made them of little value, especially in the sections of 
the state where public sentiment favored a loose interpretation 
and a mild enforcement of them. 

From the late twenties the anti-slavery workers in Kentucky 
directed much effort towards influencing public opinion in favor 
of an absolute prohibition of the importation of slaves into the 
state. In this they were prompted by a desire to lessen the 
evils of the slave system and to prevent, in so far as possible, 
the increase of slaves in the state, so that when a plan of gradual 
emancipation should be agreed upon the difificulties and the 
dangers of the undertaking would not be so great. 

In 1827, Franklin Lodge, Number 28, of the Masonic 
Order, located at Danville, Kentucky, sent to each of the members 
of the order in the state a circular in which the commerce in 
slaves carried on by importations to the state from other slave- 
holding states was declared to be in conflict with the feelings of 
benevolence and philanthropy which it was the duty of every 
Mason to inculcate. Such business was declared to be inconsist- 
ent with the principles of Accepted Ancient York Masonry and 
ought, therefore, to be discontinued by every member of the 
fraternity. All intention of interfering with the system of 
slavery as it existed in the state was disavowed. The paper 
closed with a warning to all members of the craft against par- 
ticipating in any way in "that commerce which under the in- 
fluence of a degrading cupidity imports from other states hun- 
dreds of slaves." 11 This circular is significant in that it shows 
the sentiment of the enlightened public toward the domestic 
slave trade. 



• Littell: "Statute Laws of Kentucky," Vol. 1, p. 246. 

• Ibid. 

'• "Acta of the Legislature of Kentucky, 1814-1815," pp. 435-436. 

" This circular was isaued March 3, 1827, and was published in full in the Western 
Luminary, October 31, 1827. It appeared also in a number of other papers in different parts 
of the state. 



Non-Importation Lazv, i8j^ — Efforts to Secure Its Repeal 91 

The churches of Kentucky were very pronounced in their 
opposition to the trade. In 1834, the Synod of Kentucky 
adopted a report in which they drew a thrilHng picture of the 
cruelties and horrors of the trafhc in slaves, characterizing it 
as a "flagrant violation of every principle of mercy, justice, 
and humanity." ^2 Similar sentiments were expressed fre- 
quently by the other denominations. 

A petition signed by a large number of citizens was pre- 
sented to the legislature in 1828 requesting the passage of 
an efficient law to put an end to all importations of slaves 
except when they were brought in by immigrants removing 
to the state. ^ ^ The petitioners characterized domestic slavery 
as a "great moral and political evil, which extends its baneful 
influence in a greater or less degree to the whole body of society 
in every county where it exists," and the large yearly importa- 
tions of slaves as a "violation of an Act of the Legislature 
and, as we believe, of the laws of God." ^ * A bill was introduced 
in the Senate by John Green embodying the suggestions of 
this petition and stating further that all slaves thenceforth 
brought into the state as merchandise and in violation of the 
act were to be given their freedom and were to be entitled to 
all the rights and privileges of free persons of color. ^ ^ 

In the cburse of his defense of the bill, Mr. Green said he 
believed that emancipation would take place sooner or later 
and that it was their duty to prepare for it. Emancipation 
would necessarily be gradual and would require many 
years from its commencement to its completion, and the 
fewer the slaves in the state, the more easily could 
it be accomplished. This consideration was said to be 
the most powerful argument in favor of the passage of the bill. ^ ^ 
The measure was opposed particularly by Mr. McConnell on 
the ground that it was not only inexpedient but unconstitu- 
tional. He declared that under the section of the constitution 
respecting slavery, the legislature was prohibited from emanci- 
pating slaves without the consent of each individual owner. 
To this it was replied that emancipation or forfeiture, by way 
of penalty for illegal importation, was not restricted by the 

" Goodell: "Slaverj' and Anti-Slavery," p. 152. 

'• Geniua of Universal Emancipation, January 12, 1828, quoted from the Western 
Luminary. 

'.* Genius of Universal Emancipation, January 12, 1828, quoted from the Western 
Luminary. 

'» Kentuckian, January 10, 1828. 

>• Spirit of Seventy-Six, January 31, 1828. 



92 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

constitution. 1 7 After the bill had been considered for some 
days, and had aroused general discussion of slavery, it came to 
a vote and was defeated by a very small majority. is It came 
up again during the winter session of 1828-29, and was again 
defeated in the senate by a vote of 45 to 51. ^^ 

Within the next few years numerous articles appeared 
in the newspapers discussing every phase of the slavery con- 
troversy, and particularly the proposed Non-Importation Law. 
Three series of letters printed in 1830 deserve special mention. 
The first, consisting of seven letters signed "B," was written 
by Robert J. Breckinridge and was published in the Kentucky 
Reporter. 20 The second, signed "Philo C," written by Judge 
John Green, for many years a member of the Kentucky legis- 
lature, appeared in the Westery Luminary. ~ 1 A third and much 
longer series, signed "C," addressed to the legislature of Kentucky 
was written by George Clark, a man whose talents were recog- 
nized throughout the state. 2 2 These letters, advocating 
gradual emancipation, to be preceded by the legislative pro- 
hibition of the importation of slaves, were widely copied by 
papers in all sections of the state. Mr. Breckinridge was forced 
to resign his seat in the legislature as a result of this expression 
of his anti-slavery sentiments. 2 3 

The Non-Importation bill was again brought before the 
House of Representatives in 1830. In defending the measure 
Mr. Love said that the existing laws were generally evaded, 
that he had not known of a single conviction in his time, and 
that the passage of the bill would pave the way for emancipation, 
which he declared to be the ultimate purpose of the support- 
ers of the bill. He said further that if he was given an op- 
portunity he would support either immediate or gradual eman- 
cipation. 2 4 Mr. Daniels then spoke against the bill, because, 
he said, slaves were more humanely treated in Kentucky than 
in any other place in the Union. While they remained property 
he was unwilling to interfere to prevent free trade in them. 
"If we pass this bill, what will South Carolina, North Carolina, 

" Spirit of Seventy-Six, January 31. 1828; Western Luminary, January 23, 1828. 

" Spirit of Seventy-Six, February 7, 1828. 

" Kentuckian, December 11, 1828. December 25, 1828. 

" Tliese articles were called "Hints on Slavery." The first appeared in the Kentucky 
Reporter, April 21, and the last June 9, 1830. 

" Western Luminary, October 6, 1830, ff. This series consisted of five letters. 

» Western Luminary, September 30, 1830, ff. 

" Kentucky Reporter, AuRust 4, 1830. A number of interrosatories addressed to Mr. 
Breckinridge were published in the Kentucky Gazette, June 4, 1830, among which was the 
following: "Are you the author of the numbers in the Reporter, in favor of emancipating 
the slaves?" See also, "Speech of Robert J. Breckinridge deUvered at Lexington, Kentucky, 
October 12, 1840," Pamphlet. 

" Kentuckian, January 8. 1830. 



\on-Importatioii Lazv, 18^3 — Efforts to Secure Its Repeal 93 

and Georgia say? They will have the same right to prohibit 
the importation into their states of our hogs, our horses and 
our mules. This measure will open the door to that of restrict- 
ive legislation and the precedent will be a bad one.''^^ Mr. 
Hise then took the floor in defense of the bill. He said: "There 
is a loud and impressive call upon every member of this body 
for a firm and unequivocal expression of their opinion on this 
subject." 2 6 His remarks were continued at considerable 
length; he enlarged particularly upon the evils of slavery and 
endeavored to point out the advantage of free over slave labor 
and to draw a striking contrast between the present condition 
in the free states and that in those where slavery existed. He 
attributed thb rapid progress of the non-slaveholding states 
in power and in prosperity to the absence of this evil, and drew 
from these facts an argument against permitting as far as 
practicable the increase of the evil in Kentucky.-" Mr. Elisha 
Smith, of Rockcastle County, spoke at length against the bill. 
He believed it a departure from sound policy and a violation 
of private rights as well as a violation of the constitution. 2 « 
When the bill came before the House of Representatives it was 
defeated by a vote of 48 to 48.2 9 

In Niles' Weekly Register for February 6, 1830, we find 
the following comment on the situation in Kentucky: "In an 
animated debate on a bill to prevent the importation of slaves 
into Kentucky, we are glad to observe much soundness of prin- 
ciple and freedom in expressing it. That slavery has been 
highly injurious to Kentucky, is undoubted; and that measures 
will be taken to rid the state of its slave population, so far as 
may be consistent with what are esteemed the rights of prop- 
erty, is entirely manifest to us. The first step towards that is 
an absolute prohibition of their importation from other states." ^o 

There were two bills before the legislature of Kentucky in 
1831, designed to afford some measure of relief to slaves. One 
of them prohibited jailors, under pain of being removed from 
office and fined $50, from receiving slaves into jail, unless they 
were committed by due process of law. The object was to pre- 
vent slave traders from using the county jails to facilitate 
their operations. The second bill prohibited the importation 

•' Kentuckian, January 8, 1830. 

>• Ibid. 

" Ibid. 

« Ibid. 

'" African Repository, Vol. S. p. 380. 

'• Niles' Weekly Register, Vol. 37, p. 399. 



94 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 18^0 

of slaves into the state under certain stipulated conditions. 3 1 
The slave bill, as the Non-Importation bill was termed, passed 
the House of Representatives in both 1831 and 1832, but was 
defeated each time in the Senate by a very small majority. ^ 2 
Finally it passed both houses and was approved February 24, 
1833.3 3 It provided, "That each and every person or persons 
who shall hereafter import into this state any slave or slaves 
or who shall sell or buy, or contract for the sale or purchase 
for a longer term than one year of the services of any such 
slave or slaves, knowing the same to have been imported as 
aforesaid, he, she, or they, so offending, shall forfeit and pay $600 
for each slave so imported, sold, or bought, or whose service 
has been so contracted for, recoverable by indictment by a 
grand jury on an action of debt, in the name of the Common- 
wealth of Kentucky, in any circuit of the county where the 
offender or offenders may be found." 3 4 These provisions were 
not intended to prevent immigrants to the state from bringing 
slaves with them for their own use, but immigrants were re- 
quired to make oath within sixty days after their arrival that 
they had no intention of selling such slaves as they had brought 
with them. The law did not apply to residents of the state 
"deriving a title to slaves by will, descent, distribution or 
marriage or gift in consideration of marriage." 3 5 

In order to secure the efficient administration of the law, 
its enforcement was placed in the hands of the county attorneys, 
who were required to take an oath that they would faithfully 
prosecute all offenders against the act within their knowledge 
or of which they might be informed. They were further to 
receive twenty per cent, of all fines upon conviction. The 
Justices of the Peace were also given power to issue warrants 

" Lexington Observer. October 21, 1831; Liberator. February 5, 1831. 

In a speech in the House of Representatives in support of the slave bill. May Squire 
Turner spoke especially of the inadaptability of Kentucky to slave labor. He gave a great 
many figures to substantiate his points and made a number of comparisons between the free 
states and Kentucky. His speech was quoted in the Lexington Observer, October 21, 1831. 
Elisha Smith, of Rockcastle County, spoke in opposition to the bill. In the course of his re- 
marks he said he believed that the bill was "unconstitutional, calculated to disturb the re- 
pose of the slave; to excite hopes that cannot be realized in some sixty or eighty years; to 
rivet and to draw closer the fetters that now bind him, and to lessen the price of your pro- 
ducts and to uprip and derange the commercial intercourse of this State with her sister States." 
(Commentator, December 13, 1831). 

" Western Luminary, December 28, 1831; Liberator, December 10, 1831; Shelbyville 
Examiner, December 29. 1832. 

" The bill passed the House by a vote of 56 to 32 and the Senate by 23 to 12. Among 
those voting for the measure were Owsley, Clark, Simpson, Green, Wooley, Crittenden, Thom- 
Bon, Marshall, Guthrie, Thornton, Butler and Ewing. See "Speech of Robert J. Breckin- 
ridge***. Lexington, October 12, 1840," pp. 16ff. 

«• Session Acts of 1835, p. 258. R. H. Collins: "History of Kentucky," Vol. 1, p. 37. 

" Session Acts of 1835, p. 258. 



Non-Importation Lazv, i8s3 — Efforts to Secure Its Repeal 95 

for violators and the action might be begun any time within 
five years after the offense was committed, ^e 

This law was passed to save the state from an excessive 
slave population and to keep open the way for emancipation 
at some future day. It was evident by 1840 that the first 
of these objects was being accomplished. The percentage of 
slave population had gradually increased until 1830, when it 
represented twenty-four percent, of the total population. Follow- 
ing the passage of the Non-Importation Law of 1833 the percen- 
tage remained almost stationary and by 1840 it had decreased 
slightly. 

The strength of the anti-slavery forces was greatly aug- 
mented in 1836 by the election of Cassius M. Clay to the legis- 
lature. Though only twenty-six years of age, he soon assumed 
both in the legislature and in the state as a whole that leader- 
ship of the anti-slavery workers which he held during the re- 
mainder of the slavery period. He was a nephew of Henry 
Clay and a son of General Green Clay of Madison County. 
Although a member of one of the wealthiest slave owning fam- 
ilies in Kentucky, he acquired a very strong anti-slavery tend- 
ency during his college days at Yale College, where he heard 
William Lloyd Garrison and other anti-slavery workers speak. 
After his graduation in 1832, he returned to Kentucky and en- 
tered the legal profession, in which he soon attained prominence. 
In 1835, and again in 1837, he represented Madison County 
in the legislature.^" The following year he moved his resi- 
dence to Lexington, Fayette County, and in 1840 he was again 
elected to the legislature on the Whig ticket, defeating Howard 
Wickliffe, the son of Robert Wickliffe, the leading democratic 
politician and the largest slave-owner in the state. ^^ His 
early antagonism to slavery was clearly expressed in 1840, 
when he declared slavery to be "an evil morally, economically, 
physically, intellectually, socially, religiously, politically — evil 
in its inception and in its duration." ^ a 

No sooner had the Law of 1833 been passed than the pro- 
slavery element launched a campaign for its repeal or modi- 
fication. The leader in this movement after 1835 was Robert 
Wickliffe. The question of the repeal of the law came before the 
legislature almost annually and the bill frequently passed the 

•• Session Acts of 1835, p. 258. 

" "Memoira of Cassius M. Clay, " Vol. 1, p. 73. 

»• Ibid., p. 74. 

•• Cassius M. Clay: "Review of the Late Canvass," p. 14. 



96 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

senate but was regularly defeated in the house, ^o In the 
elections of 1840 it was one of the leading issues before the 
people. In a number of places the candidates were publicly 
asked to state their views in regard to the measure. ^^ During 
1840 and 1841 a long and bitter newspaper and pamphlet con- 
troversy was waged, largely over the Non-Importation Law 
of 1833, in which the leading participants were Robert Wick- 
lifife, Thomas Marshall, Robert J. Breckinridge, and Cassius 
M. Clay, the last three defending the law. In one of the 
pamphlets published in 1840, Wickliffe urged the slave- 
holders of the South to hold a convention for the 
purpose of formulating plans for the better protection 
of their slave interests. ^^ In this he maintained that the 
Non-Importation Law of 1833 was part and parcel of the system 
of the abolitionists, which had for its main object the severance 
of Kentucky from the southern slave states by diminishing 
the number of slaves, thus increasing the proportion of non- 
slaveholders and free laborers, forcing the entire slave popu- 
lation upon the "Southern Angle," and finally terminating 
slavery there "by the murder of the whole white population." ^^ 
This calamity, he believed, could be averted only by an ex- 
pansion of the slave territory and by "nipping in the bud" all 
anti-slavery schemes. 

The repeal bill came up annually ^ 4 before the legislature, 
until 1849, when a bill was passed repealing the most important 
provisions of the Non-Importation Law of 1833. ■^-'^ This action 
was taken on the eve of an election of delegates to a constitu- 
tional convention, an election in which gradual emancipation 
was one, if not the most important issue, and was doubtless 
designed to counteract the growing sentiment in favor of eman- 
cipation. The Presbyterian Herald in commenting upon the 
vote said: "We do not know how far this action of the 
legislature is in accordance with the popular sentiment of 
the State at large. At this point we hear but one opinion 

« The Maysville Eagle, December 22, 1838. In this year the bill passed the Senate 
by a vote of 20 to 14. See also the Philanthropist, October 28, 1840; Cassius M. Clay: "Review 
of the Late Canvass, 1840," Pamplilet. It was largely due to the efforts of Clay that the 
law was not repealed at this time. 

•' The Philanthropist, October 28, 1840. 

" Wickliffe: "Reply to Robert J. Breckinridge * * *, 1840," Pamphlet, p. 45f. 

«« Ibid., up. 4.Sff. See also Thomas Marshall: "Letters to the Editor of the Common- 
wealth," Pamphlet, 1840, Vol. 2, p. 22. In these letters he attempts to prove the constitu- 
tionality of the law which had been contested by Wickliffe and others. For the part taken 
by Robert J. Breckinridge see the Breckinridge Papers for 1840 and 1841, which contain a 
number of important letters on this subject. 

" The Liberator, April 9, 1840, February 12, 1841, February 14, 1845, Januar>' 16, 
1846, February 11, 1848; Niles' Weekly Register, Vol. 64, p. 4; Anti-Slavery Bugle. February 
18. 1848. 

" Niles" Weekly Register. Vol. 75. p. 113; The Liberator, March 2, 1849. 



Non-Importation Laiv, 18^3 — Efforts to Secure Its Repeal 97 

expressed, and that is that the action of the Legislature in the 
matter is uncalled for and unpolitic."*^ 

The effort to prevent importation was one of the hopeful 
measures that characterized the late twenties and the early- 
thirties, measures designed to prevent slavery from acquiring 
a firmer hold on the state and to facilitate, in that way, the 
work of gradual emancipation. The effort of pro-slavery 
leaders to secure the repeal of the non-importation act is to be 
regarded as a sign of the aggressive program to which they 
adhered after the threat of the Garrisonian abolitionists and it 
illustrates quite aptly the place which in the forties slavery 
had come to occupy in the political and social life of the state. 

" The Presbyterian Herald, February 22, 1849. 



GRADUAL EMANCIPATION AND RADICAL 

ABOLITION 

1830-1840 



CHAPTER VIII 



The development of sentiment in fa\'or of gradual con- 
stitutional emancipation following the constitutional con- 
vention of 1799 has been traced in the preceding pages. It 
has been seen that the question of calling a convention was 
an issue in practically every legislature and that the party 
favoring a convention, although it represented a minority, 
was strong enough at times to control one of the houses. The 
result was a constant uneasiness on the part of the slaveholders 
lest slavery might be abolished if entrusted to a representative 
constitutional convention. ^ Illustrative of this was a circular 
addressed to the freemen of Fayette County, in 1830, by the 
Hon. Robert Wickliffe, in which he bitterly opposed the calling 
of such a convention. His arguments in support of this posi- 
tion, typical pro-slavery arguments, were based largely on his 
fear of emancipation, which he considered inexpedient unless 
it could be made effective in all the states of the Union. He 
maintained that the attempt to emancipate the slaves of Ken- 
tucky would not succeed, but would drive the slaveholders 
with their slaves to the southern states, where slavery would 
continue "for centuries yet to come." He considered the 
consequences of such a migration dangerous "to the wealth and 
the capital of the state" and spoke especially of the inhumanity 
of such a move, since the slaves would be removed "to a country 
where their slavery would be more intolerable than it is at 
present." He regarded the diffusion of slaves over extensive 
portions of the nation as tending more to the final emanci- 
pation of the race than the gathering of them in large masses. 
Furthermore, he expressed his wish that slavery should not be 
perpetual, and he firmly believed that Providence would at 

' There is a "Bill for the Emancipation of Slaves" in the Draper MSS. (Boone MSS., 
OriRinal Doc, Vol. 27). On the obverse side of this Bill is a petition signed by Robert Todd. 
P. Patterson, David Reid, James Crawford, Andrew McCalla, William Barber, and W. Machean, 
which pronounces slavery a great political evil and moral wronn. The LcRislature was asked 
to pass certain laws that were designed to encouraRC emancipation, especially of the future 
offsprinR of the present generation of slaves. Neither the Bill nor the petition was dated. 



Gradual Bniancipation and Radical Abolition — 18^0-1840 99 

the proper time point out the means of effecting its extinction. 
He firmly believed that the calling of a convention would re- 
sult in emancipation and accordingly warned the slaveholders 
throughout the state "of the danger to the tenure by which 
they hold their slaves which would result from a convention." 
He referred to the yearly returns of the tax commissioners and 
endeavored to prove that less than one voter in ten was a slave- 
holder. ^ "In this state of the polls," he asked, "what chance 
can the slaveholder have to retain his slaves, if by a new con- 
stitution he is left at the mercy of the annual legislature of the 
state?" The address closed with the warning "that while 
the constitution secures the rights of the masters to their slaves 
the religious societies, that abhor the principles of slavery, 
feel themselves restrained to be silent as to its evils; but so 
soon as it becomes a question to be settled in a new constitu- 
tion all such feel themselves called on by the principles of their 
religion to act, and they will act, as their conscience dictates." ^ 
Robert Wickliffe represented the radical element in the 
pro-slavery party, but his fears of those who favored gradual 
emancipation were shared by many. Millions of dollars had 
been invested by the citizens of the state in slave property 
and many of those who were interested in slavery, although 
they did not always regard slave labor as economical, did not 
wish to see the power to emancipate placed in the hands of 
the legislature, since the legislature might at any time pass 
under the control of a radical anti-slavery party that would 
summarily abolish the institution and without compensation. 
On the other hand, there were many slaveholders who actively 
co-operated with the anti-slavery party, because they believed 
that slavery was detrimental to the best interests of the state. 
Yet they neither desired nor anticipated radical action on the 
subject. 

' This seems to be a fair estimate of the slaveholdinK population of Kentucky. Cassius 
M. Clay in a speech in the House of Representatives of Kentucky in 1841, said that nine-tenths 
of the free white population of the state were non-slaveholders or working men. "Speech of 
Cassius M. Clay in the House of Representatives of Kentucky in January, 1841, upon a Bill 
to Repeal the Non-importation Law of 1833," Pamphlet, p. 4. 

' Kentucky Reporter, February 17. 1830. It was also published in pamphlet form 
and in the Western Luminary (May 26, 1830), and in other Kentucky papers. The following 
observationof the anti-slavery prospects in Kentucky was made by Benjamin Lundy in the Gen- 
ius of Universal Emancipation, April 1, 1830, p. 3: "In addition to the evidence, so conclusive, 
that the good cause is there fast gaining ground, it will be recollected that the Legislature 
recently had under consideration a resolution to amend the Constitution of the State, when 
the advocates of that measure vowed that their ultimate object was the eradication of 
slavery from their soil. A letter from a gentleman of high standing, in Lexington, to the 
Hon. Charles Miner, of Pennsylvania, states that this was the principal inducement with 
many to support the proposition; and it will be remembered that the resolution was negatived 
by a majority of one vote only." 



100 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 18^0 

While many slaveholders advocated the calling of a con- 
stitutional convention for the purpose of providing some means 
for the gradual extinction of slavery in the state, a considerable 
number of anti-slavery workers, among them Robert J. Breck- 
inridge, a member of the Kentucky legislature, opposed the 
convention bill on the ground that under the existing con- 
stitution slavery might be terminated in perfect accordance 
with its spirit and provisions. This point of view was ad- 
vanced by Mr. Breckinridge in the fourth and fifth numbers 
of his "Hints on Slavery," in answer to the pamphlet by 
R. WicklifTe quoted above. ^ He maintained that the consti- 
tution expressly recognized two methods of emancipation: 
first, by consent of the owners, and second, by compen- 
sation on the part of the state. He maintained also that by 
a system of moderate and sustained police regulations emanci- 
pation might be ultimately accomplished without infringing 
the title of the owner more than had been done by multitudes 
of laws on other subjects.^ He adduced the following con- 
stitutional argument concerning the post nati which he main- 
tained was intentionally ingrafted into the constitution by 
the framers of that document. <"• The constitution compre- 
hends under the single word "slaves," the total interest of the 
owner protected by it; and allows his total interest, whatever 
it may be, to be taken and paid for by the state. Now, if 
the possibility that a female will have children is such an in- 
terest that it vests in the master, then it is such an interest 
as by the force of the terms the state can pay for and con- 
trol. If it is not such an interest, then there is no question 
that the state can control it without pay. Thus, either way, 
the power of the state over the post nati is complete; according 
to one construction with compensation, according to the other. 



« Breckinridge Papers, for 1830, contain the original copy. See also Kentucky Re- 
porter, May 12, 19, 1830. Breckinridge's "Hints on Slavery" is one of the most important 
anti-slavery documents in the history of Kentucky. They were copied into many of the 
Kentucky papers and received state-wide attention. Among other things he says: "Two 
out of every seven of her population are estimated to be slaves. One out of every thirteen 
of her white population is estimated to be a slave owner. It may be conjectured that one in 
every two among slaveholders are favorable to the principle of gradual abolition. Twelve 
out of every thirteen own no slaves, and are therefore, in every way, interested in getting rid 
of them. It follows, therefore, that not more than one in every twenty-six whites, upon a 
fair presentation of the subject, could upon any reasonable calculation, be supposed favorable 
to the perpetuity of negro slavery in the state." He then attempted to prove that slavery 
was decidedly against the true interests of the state. Wliile he expressed confidence in 
colonization he maintained that the real object was to secure the freedom of the slaves. This 
he believed should be preceded by an absolute prohibition of all importations of slaves into 
the state. Furthermore, he stated that the state had a right to and should at once levy a 
tax on all slaves within the state, the proceeds of which were to be devoted to the removal of 
the treed slaves to .-Vfrica. 

' "Hints on Slavery," Kentucky Reporter, May 12, 19, 1830. Also Breckinridge Papers 
(1830). 

« See supra, pp. 31, 32. 



Gradual Bttiancipation and Radical Abolition — 18^0-1840 101 

without it.'' In the summary closing his constitutional argu- 
ment he said: "I cannot doubt, then, that I am authorized 
to give the following interpretation to the debated clause of 
the constitution, as embracing its plain meaning and fulfilling 
its intent : 

"1. The General Assembly (of Kentucky) can never 
emancipate any slaves gradually, contingent or in any way 
whatever; except, first, with their owners' consent, or secondly, 

after having previously paid for them. 

<<2 * * * 

"3. The General Assembly has full power, before the 
birth of those persons who by our Constitution and laws, are 
allowed to be held in slavery — so to modify existing laws, as to 
allow them to remain as they are born — free. 

"4. It follows that the General Assembly has full power, 
so to modify existing laws, as to allow the condition of slavery 
to attach at birth to those who can be slaves, only in a quali- 
fied or limited manner; that is, to provide for the gradual pro- 
spective emancipation of the descendants of female slaves."* 

These articles, in addition to appearing in pamphlet form, 
were printed in a number of the leading papers of the state. 
They attracted wide attention and provoked much discussion. 
They were written to prove that, although the legislature had 
no power to liberate slaves without the consent of their owners, 
or without first paying for them, yet it had the power to provide 
for emancipation of descendants of female slaves. The sec- 
ondary object was to prevent the call of a convention, by show- 
ing that it was not necessary insofar as the subject of eman- 
cipation was concerned . ^ 



' "Hints on Slavery," Breckinridge Papers; Kentucky Reporter, May 12, 19, 1830. 

" Ibid., May 19, 1830. 

"The power to liberate persons in slavery being restricted in part, cannot be exercised 
in the excepted cases. The power to enforce and confirm the laws of nature, anterior to the 
birth of the children of slaves is not restricted, but remains complete under the general grant.* * * 
If it had been the intention of the Convention to put an absolute, instead of a limited restraint 
on the power of the Legislature to prevent forever the extinguishment of slavery, instead of 
guarding the interests of owners to a certain extent, a very different phraseology would naturally 
have suggested itself, and must have been used, 'The General Assembly shall have no power 
to pass laws for the extinguishment of slavery.' This was followed by a long discussion of 
gradual emancipation. The article ended with this significant statement: "Domestic slavery 
cannot exist forever; it cannot exist long in any condition of society or under any form of gov- 
ernment, quiet and unbroken. It may terminate in various ways — but terminate it must." 
(Breckinridge Papers, Original copy.) This same idea was expressed in the "Speech of Robert J. 
Breckinridge***, October 12, 1840," Pamphlet. 

• Robert Wickliffe, a personal and political enemy of R. J. Breckinridge, in commenting 
a few years later on the influence of Breckinridge: "Hints on Slavery," said: "That those articles 
excited in the slaves of the county and city a spirit of insubordination that filled the county 
of Fayette with murder, arson and rapes to such a degree that, in one year, there were about 
fifteen committals of slaves for capital offenses, and many executions of them, when there had not 
been one case of an execution of a slave for fifteen years before they commenced their opera- 
tions in favor of abolition." ("Reply of Robert Wickliffe to Robert J. Breckinridge, 1841." 
Pamphlet, p. 20f.) 



102 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to i8jO 

The sentiment in favor of gradual constitutional eman- 
cipation seemed to be gaining strength rapidly during the 
early thirties. The passage of the Non-Importation Law of 
1833 is an evidence of that fact-^** This victory only tended 
to encourage the anti-slavery party to greater efforts and led 
them to believe that the time was ripe for the submission of a 
plan of gradual emancipation to the people. In 1833 James 
G. Birney regarded Kentucky "as the best site in our whole 
country for taking a stand against slavery." ^^ In a let- 
ter to Lewis Tappan, February third, of the same year 
he said: "I returned a few days since from Frankfort. I 
heard whilst there most of the debates on the convention bill 
into which the subject of slavery and emancipation always 
entered. I conversed on the subject with many of the members 
of the legislature as well as with many other intelligent gentle- 
men from the different parts of the state. The conclusion 
to which my mind has been brought is this — that emancipation 
in some form or another occupies the minds of the community, 
and that the feeling in favor of it is growing. * * * i am not 
without hope that the subject of emancipation will be taken up 
in many parts of the state by the candidates for the next Gen- 
eral Assembly of the state. Should this be so I can enter- 
tain no doubt, that the result will be a termination of slavery 
in some way or another." ^ ^ 

In a speech in the legislature of Kentucky in 1835 in sup- 
port of the convention bill and a gradual emancipation clause 
in the new constitution, J. M. Helm said in this connection: 
"The spirit of emancipation is abroad in the land, and you 
had as well try to resist electricity or control the lightnings 
of heaven as to attempt to check its onward march. * * * 
Let us now meet the question and have some constitutional 
assurance how long we may be expected to be permitted to 
hold them (slaves). * * * Let the coming generation have 
an opportunity of arranging their fortunes at once. * * * 
What disposition shall be made of our slave population is a 
question of grave consideration, and I will not now hazard an 
opinion upon the subject. But this much I will say, if that 
population is to be perpetually urged as an argument against 
altering, reforming, or abolishing our government, when experi- 
ence shall point out its necessity, our country is doubly en- 

"> See supra, p. 04. 

" Birney: "James G. Birney and His Times," p. 131. 

" Liberator, April 4. 1835. 



Gradual Emancipation and Radical Abolition — 18^0-1840 103 

slaved; our slaves are slaves to us, and we are, because of 
them, slaves to our laws.''^^ 

By 1835 the sentiment in favor of emancipation had become 
so strong and so persistent that many slaveholders who were 
opposed to emancipation now supported the convention bill 
in order to bring about a permanent settlement of the question 
one way or the other. Some slaveholders, opposed to eman- 
cipation, regarded the time as opportune for testing the strength 
of the anti-slavery party since hundreds of moderate eman- 
cipationists had withdrawn their support either temporarily 
or permanently as a result of the activities of the radical aboli- 
tionists. 1 4 There were also other issues involved in the calling 
of a convention that commanded a considerable following and 
for a combination of reasons the legislature in 1837, by a vote 
of 20 to 16 in the Senate and of 57 to 42 in the House, passed 
the convention bill. ^ ^ 

The constitution of Kentucky provided that when a 
majority of all the members elected to each House of the General 
Assembly should concur in passing a law, "specifying the altera- 
tions intended to be made, for taking the sense of the good 
people of this State as to the necessity and expediency of calling 
a convention" elections were to be held, and if a majority of the 
citizens entitled to vote for representatives voted for the con- 
vention, the General Assembly was to direct that a "similar 
poll shall be opened and taken" at the general election the 
following year; and if a majority of the citizens entitled to vote 
for representatives again voted for the convention, the General 
Assembly, at its next session, was to issue a call for and order 
the election of delegates to a constitutional convention. But 
if by the vote of either year such a majority was not secured 
the convention was not to be called. ^^ Thus the bill having 
passed the legislature in 1837 the first election was ordered 
for the fall of 1838. 

It is evident, therefore, that the campaign for the gradual 
constitutional emancipation was only begun by the passage 
of the legislative act of 1837. To accomplish the desired end 
it would be necessary for the friends of emancipation to com- 
mand a majority of the votes in the elections of 1838 and 1839, 

" Liberator, March 7, 1835, quoted from the Lexington Intelligencer. 

" A correspondent in the Western Presbyterian Herald, for November 30, 1837, speaks 
disparagingly of the tendency among the friends of emancipation to cease temporarily their 
efforts in its behalf as a result of the northern abolitionist propaganda. Such action, he de- 
clared, could not be justified at such a crisis by the errors of abolitionists. 

" Western Presbyterian Herald, January 4, 1838. 

'• House Documents, 59th Congress, 2d Session, Vol. 89, p. 1288. 



104 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 18^0 

and also to secure the election of a majority of the delegates 
to the convention in 1840 to support their cause. This, under 
the most favorable circumstances, would be a most difficult 
undertaking, especially since, as we have seen, the action of 
the legislature in referring the question of a convention to 
the people was not due wholly to the efforts of the anti-slavery 
men.i'' 

The Lexington Observer, which consistently opposed the 
convention bill, made the following comment on the situation 
in regard to slavery: ''For a time we must expect this subject 
to control all others. The state of Kentucky is to be the 
theatre upon which a great battle is to be fought. It is useless 
to disguise the question. * * * AH other imputed defects in the 
Constitution are mere playthings — we have not heard one pointed 
out which would justify this extreme resolve. It is time that 
the people of this state should know what their future destiny 
is to be. If a majority should be of the opinion that it is better 
to extirpate slavery, it is time it should be known. There is 
a restlessness in the public mind, which should be allayed, 
by full, free, and manly discussion. Let us discuss it in the 
right spirit. * * * We make war on no man for his opinion — some 
of the brightest ornaments of Kentucky are of the opinion 
that slavery is a great moral and political curse." i^ 

The anti-slavery activity in Kentucky between 1830 and 
1840 was viewed by the entire country with a great deal of in- 
terest. The final decision of the state upon the question of 
whether or not slavery should be permitted to remain touched 
vital interests in both the North and the South. It was fre- 
quently asked: Should Kentucky abolish slavery, would the 
other border states, Tennessee, Missouri, Maryland, and Vir- 
ginia, follow? Should any one or all of these states voluntarily 
take such action, would it be possible to restore the balance 
of power in the national government between the North 
and the South as established by the Missouri Compromise in 
1820, and if not would it result in the final abolition of slavery in 
the entire South? 

An indication of the opinion of the South is given in an edi- 
torial in a North Carolina newspaper in 1837: "The legislature 
of Kentucky has passed a bill to take the sense of the people on 

" Western Presbyterian Herald, for June 4, 1838, in reviewing this .\ct, said: "Slavery 
was one issue althouKh the anti-slavery element did not control the legislature. Many de- 
sired to find out the will of the people on that and other questions." 

" Genius of Universal Emancipation, January, 18.^8, quoted from the Lexington Ob- 
server. This article was also copied in the Emancipator, January 25, 1838. 



Gradual Emancipation and Radical Abolition — 1830-1840 105 

the propriety of calling a Convention, the primary object of 
which is the abolition of slavery in that State. Such a move- 
ment, in a juncture like the present, is to be especially regretted. 
Its effects will not be confined to the State of Kentucky, but 
will have a weighty and important bearing upon the interest of 
all the slave States. Those in Kentucky who desire the contin- 
uation and the glory of this Union, and who participated in 
effecting this movement, have given by it but an ill-judged and 
an impolitic earnest of that desire. And the Abolitionists of the 
North and of that State are now doubly exulting at a prospect 
so favorable to the final accomplishment of their designs. Is it 
not time that the South were awake, and moving, by States, to 
the common principle, that slavery shall not be abolished?'' 1 9 
The Richmond Whig in commenting upon the coming Ken- 
tucky election said: "It assumes a consequence and importance 
surpassing that of any subject ever agitated in Kentucky. But 
the interest in the event will not be confined to the citizens of 
that state. * * * Every portion of the Confederac}-, and the slave- 
holding region especially, will look with intense interest to the 
decision of the question." 20 The Savannah Georgian about 
the same time urged the South to oppose the candidacy of Henry 
Clay for the presidency because he came from "a state where 
public opinion is undergoing a change upon the subject of slav- 
ery. When it is ascertained that hemp can be grown at less ex- 
pense with white than with slave labor, that state will go further 
against the institution than any other, on the same principle 
that one renegade is worse than ten Turks."2i 

The Emancipator, the official organ of the American Anti- 
Slavery Society, was very optimistic over the prospects of suc- 
cess in the Kentucky struggle. 2 2 It expressed the opinion that 
the abolition of slavery in the state, as a result of her contiguity 
to a number of slave states, might virtually abolish the institu- 
tion in the whole South. 2 3 By April, 1838, it seemed to regard 
the struggle as won by the anti-slavery forces when it made the 
following comment: "In spite of all the machinations of inter- 
ested polit icians, Kentucky has virtually withdrawn from the 

'» Genius of Universal Emancipation, January, 1838, quoted. The name of the North 
j-aroima paper IS not given. Benjamin Lundy made the foUowing comment on this article: 
1 he reader will bear m mmd that the doctrine which the Southern slaveholders have hereto- 
lore preached, is, non-mterference with regulations of other States. But now we have a 
amerent language from them. We hope and trust, however, that the people of Kentucky 
wiu properly attend to their own concerns, whatever the besotted tyrants in the Carolinat 
may thinli or say of them." 

" Emancipator, February 15, 1838, quoted. 

" Emancipator, October 4, 1838, quoted from the Savannah Georgian, August 26, 1838. 

" Emancipator, February IS, June 14, 1838. 

" Ibid., February 15, 1838. 



106 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

confederacy of oppressors. The struggle may yet be severe, 
^^very will die game, but it must die. Kentucky is now the 
bXrold of abolition."- The expression. "Kentucky .s 
now the battleground of aboUtion," was repeatedly used from 
this time on by the Emancipator and other ant-slavery papers, 
and was taken up by the pro-slavery newspapers and Pf^^^'^"^ 
of Kentucky ind held before the public as an evidence of the un- 
dufinterference ot-the North in the internal affairs of the state 
William Lloyd Garrison, the editor of the Liberator, expressed 
considerable confidence in the outcome of '^e election in Ken- 
tucky, although he was not so sanguine as the editor of theEman- 



cipator. 2 & 



Numerous pamphlets and anti-slavery papers were sent into 
Kentucky by the American Anti-Slavery Society and s-md^^^^^^^ 
deties and by various anti-slavery newspapers o the free states. 
Efforts were made in a number of towns to exclude this material 
from the mails. Mr. J. J. Ficklin, the postmaster at Lexington 
refused to deliver such documents to the people of that place. 
He Wormed the editor of the Emancipator that the numerous 
"bol tion pamphlets and papers sent to the c tizens o that vicin- 
ity were not reaching their destination and requested that he 
stop sending them. He said that there were no immediate abo- 
Monists in Kentucky and that there was no prospect of any.- 

On the other hand, it was asserted by the Commonwealth, 
one of the leading Kentucky newspapers, that theKentucky con- 
vention was making more "noise beyond the borders of the state 
than it was at home,' " where it was attracting no great amount 
of attention." » • It reviewed at length the attempt of the north- 
1 aboHtionists to make Kentucky the "battleground of abo- 
Ution " The editor spoke especially of the Emancipator, a copy 
of which had recently come into his hands. This number he d 
clared showed a keen observation of passing events m the state a 
fegslature. It contained a careful and accurate synopses 
of the progress and the passage of the convention bill as well as 
a number of the speeches in the legislature. The Emancipator 

» Emancipator, AprU S. April 19. June 14, 1838. 
S»SJ, ?„3*';!Uu£l'n,:^' •^h?S§~-5ra.siU<. .h. call .or „.. co,.«„t,o„ to 



Gradual B mancipation and Radical Abolition — 18^0-1840 107 

was described as being conducted with "singular ability" and as 
"better calculated to work ruin to the South than all the rest of 
the machinery put together." The people were warned against 
the "designs of that growing and dangerous faction," the aboli- 
tionists of the North. Any yielding on the part of any of the 
slaveholding states would throw a preponderating power into 
the scale of the abolitionists and serve to increase their deter- 
mination, already too strongly marked. 2 9 

The Hon. James T. Morehead, for many years an outspok- 
en opponent of slavery in the state and an ardent advocate of 
colonization, in a speech in the legislature of Kentucky on the 
convention bill, gave the following reasons, which are typical of 
addresses on the subject, for opposing the calling of a convention 
or for the constitutional abolition of slavery: "Any man who de- 
sires to see slavery abolished — any friend of emancipation, grad- 
ual or immediate — who supposes for a moment that now is the 
time to carry out this favorite policy, must be blind to the prog- 
nostics that lower from every quarter of the political sky. Sir, 
the present is not the period to unmanacle the slave in this or 
any other state of the Union. Four years ago you might have 
had some hope. But the wild spirit of fanaticism has done 
much to retard the work of emancipation and to rivet the fetters 
of slavery in Kentucky.* * * The advocates of abolition — thephren- 
zied fanatics of the North, neither sleep nor slumber. Their 
footsteps are even now to be seen wherever mischief can be per- 
petrated — and it may be that while the people of Kentucky are 
reposing in the confidence of fancied security, the tocsin of re- 
bellion may resound through the land — the firebrand of the in- 
cendiary may wrap their dwellings in flames — their towns and 
cities may become heaps of ashes before their eyes and their 
minds drawn off^ from all thoughts of reforming the government 
to consider the means necessary for their self-preservation — the 
protection of their families and all that is dear to men."3o 

Even Henry Clay, who had not taken a decided stand re- 
garding emancipation in Kentucky since 1799, wrote to his 
friends advising them to oppose the call for a convention and to 
oppose emancipation. This was a great disappointment to the 

» Commonwealth, April 18, 1838. This paper, though pro-slavery, was by no means 
radical. Articles advocating gradual emancipation frequently appeared in it. In the above 
number, the Hon. John J. Helm, a member of the legislature, published a circular letter 
addressed to his constituents in vindication of his vote for the convention bill. A plan of 
gradual emancipation and colonization was recommended to them for their consideration. 
July 18, 1838, in a long article signed "C," a plan of emancipation, copied after that formerly 
adopted by New York, was advocated. Both Mr. Helm and correspondent "C" bitterly 
assailed abolitionism. 

» Commonwealth, April 4, 1838; Maysville Eagle, April 11, 1838. 



108 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

opponents of slavery and a decisive blow to the emancipation 
cause in the state. Because of his ardent advocacy of coloniza- 
tion and his repeatedly expressed belief that the institution of 
slavery was detrimental to the best interests of the state, it had 
been expected that once the question had been submitted to the 
people he would add his powerful influence to the cause. Clay 
justified his action in opposing the convention bill upon the 
ground of expediency. He made no attempt to defend or ex- 
cuse slavery on moral or economic grounds, but his hatred and 
fear of abolitionists and abolitionism was intense. 3 ^ 

By the spring of 1838 the discussions of the advisability of 
calling a convention and of gradual constitutional emancipation 
were rapidly degenerating into a denunciation of abolitionism 
in which the friends and the foes of slavery took an equal part. ^ 2 
Scarcely an article appeared in the newspapers, scarcely a speech 
was delivered on either side of the question that abolition and 
abolitionists were not bitterly assailed. Many of the leading 
advocates of a convention now turned against it because in view 
of the interference of northern abolitionists in the affairs of the 
state the holding of a convention that might affect the constitu- 
tional status of slavery was thought undesirable. The northern 
abolitionists were ignorantly playing into the hands of the radi- 
cal pro-slavery leaders and were enabling them to associate aboli- 
tion, regarded by all classes as a dangerous menace to southern 
society, with the constitutional convention and perhaps gradual 
emancipation, and thus to defeat the measure. Opposition to 
modern abolitionism then as in later years beciame a popular 
policy regardless of the excuse for it or the issue involved. 

When the question of calling a convention came before the 
people in the election during the fall of 1838 the supporters of 
the convention were defeated by a large majority. ^ 3 Various 
causes contributed to this I'esult and one of the most important 
was, doubtless, the suspicion and fear aroused by the growth and 

•' Annals of Congress, 1839, Vol. 7, p. 354. Speech on Abolition Petitions, February 7. 

" In 1836, Robert J. Breckinridge, at that time an advocate of gradual emancipation, 
siKike of abolitionists as the "most despicable and odious men on the face of the earth." He 
said further that there were not more than ten men in the whole State holding their views. 
George Thompson: "Discussion of American Slavery Between George Thompson and Rob- 
ert J. Breckinridge," p. 40. 

In a speech before the Colonization Society of Kentucky, in 1830, Henry Clay said: 
"When we consider the cruelty of the origin of negro slavery, its nature, the character of the 
free institutions of the whites, and the irresistible progress of the pubhc opinion, through 
America as well as Europe, it is impossible not to anticipate frequent insurrections among 
the blacks in the United States.* * * By the very condition of the relation which subsists be- 
tween us we are enemies of each other." (African Repository, Vol. 6, p. 11.) 

»• Henry Clay estimated this majoritv at four to one. Annals of Congress, 1839, Vol. 
7, p. 358. 



Gradual Bmancipation and Radical Abolition — 1830- 1840 109 

activity of the northern abolitionists. Henry Clay said, in ex- 
planation of the defeat of the convention, that the anti-slavery 
majority in the state had gradually increased from 1799 and was 
increasing "until the abolitionists commenced their operations. 
The efifect has been to dissipate all prospects whatever, for the 
present, of any scheme of gradual or other emancipation. The 
people have been shocked and alarmed by these abolition move- 
ments. * * * The apprehension of the danger of abolition was the 
leading consideration amongst the people for opposing the call 
(of the convention). But for that, but for the agitation of the 
question of abolition in States whose population had no right, in 
the opinion of the people of Kentucky, to interfere in the matter, 
the vote for the convention would have been much larger, if it 
had not been carried." ^ 4 Considerable evidence has been found 
indicating the importance of radical abolitionism in Kentucky 
during this period. Professor Shaler, in his "Kentucky, an 
American Commonwealth," sums up the matter in this fashion: 
"From the local histories the deliberate student will easily be- 
come convinced that if there had been no external pressure 
against slavery at this time (1830-1840) there would still have 
been a progressive elimination of the slave element from the pop- 
ulation by emancipation on the soil, by the sale of slaves to the 
planters of the Southern States, and by their colonization in 
foreign parts." ^s 

The radical abolition propaganda was also instrumental in 
intensifying sectional feeHng which previous to 1830 had not 
been pronounced in Kentucky. There was a growing feeling 
that it was the duty of Kentucky as a slave state to support the 
southern states in their struggle for the maintenance of slavery, 
and this determination was greatly strengthened by the coun- 
tenance and assistance rendered to the Underground Railroad 
System, by which hundreds of citizens of Kentucky were un- 

" Annals of Congress, 1839, Vol. 7, p. 358. Speech on Abolition Petitions, February 
7. Clay further expressed the opinion that the abolition movement had set back for half a 
century the prospect of any kind of emancipation in the state. 

The Liberator, for September 22, 1843, quoting from the Western Citizen, of Paris, 
Ky., said: "It is often cast into the teeth of abolitionists that their agitation of the slave 
question in the free states has prevented emancipation in Kentucky and Virginia — that those 
states were some ten or twelve years ago on the very eve of emancipation, but the discussion 
of the question by abolition fanatics at the North drove them from it." The Western Citizen, 
however, attributed the defeat of the emancipation to the attitude of Henry Clay, who was 
bidding for the Presidency. 

In a speech at Richmond, Indiana, in 1840, Henry Clay said that before abolitionists 
began their work the people of Kentucky were nearly, if not altogether, ready for the passage 
of a law for the gradual emancipation, "but the misguided, and, we believe, honest zeal of the 
abolitionists, had to a great extent destroyed this feeling." (The Liberator, October 21, 1842.) 

" Shaler: "Kentucky, Pioneer Commonwealth," p. 197. 



no The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

lawfully deprived of their slaves, ^o Thus there was developed 
among the slaveholders a feeling of wrong and indignation, and 
their determination to oppose in every way possible the efforts 
of the radical abolitionists in behalf of the slave was greatly 
strengthened. Thousands of men who earnestly desired eman- 
cipation by some gradual constitutional measure were unwillingly 
driven to the support of the institution of slavery. There was 
also developed a stronger and more determined opposition to all 
anti-slavery activities within the state, associating all such efforts 
with those of the northern abolitionists, whose activities had oc- 
casioned such great anxiety and economic losses within the state. 

^^F^ractice of encoura^ng -^ listing fugidv^^^ 

or to Canada was begun in Kentucky as early as 1818 CHarns.^^i^^^^^^ ^^^^ estabUshed 

p. 59-, Levi Coffin: "Reminiscences P.-^^J'-^^fXT a society composed of slaveholders 
for a number of years af^er that date As early ^^^S^; a^^^'/^res for the better security 
was formed in Mason Comity f°.\,^th\Pu/P°«e of co^certrng m 5 ^j^^ ^^^^^er of fugitive 

of their slave property. (Maysvnlle Eagle, Jul> H. -5- i»-^^' ^^^^^ j^.^e and the chance of 
slaves that annually escaped to Ohio ^nd i^iana nau u ^ j ^;orth was so strong 

recovering them very small ^he sentiment m the free .tat est ^^^^ .^^ ^ person for 

against slavery that it ^^^sataost impossible to secure^ ^^^.^ ^^^.^^^ ^^.^^^ 3„ ded 

assisting slaves to escape and when t^fy "o^^^ iihistration of this was the arrest, trial, and 
that the task was equally difficult ^ striking lUus^^ ^^^, ^^^ B. Mahan. 

acquittal by a Kentucky jury in 1838 of the u ell kno%%^un ^^^^^ scarcely be ques- 

for inciting, aiding and abettmg slaves to escape, alt^°ug^ Presbyterian Herald, December 
tioned. (MaysviUe Eagle, November 21. 1838, Wes^^^^^^ fellow-citizensof Ohio will 

13, 1838.) The Mays^^ le Eagle in '^.eY'e^'^sthe trial saiat^^^^^^ ^^ interfere with 

perceive from the result of this trial that there is no disposition on o v ^^ ^^_ 

fheir rights or to encroach upon the sovereignity of ^haTj^tate ^f^^'^^^^^ ^^ ,1,,;, .i^j^ens. 
in return that they will frown do^vn the disposition mannestMOi v ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^ 

or to intermeddle with our nglits ^V '^"^ "g, a.d.n| and abemn ^ ^^ ^y our common 
which we esteem property, and the possession of whKh 's S^^^^ jgj^^ ^he Common- 
constitution." (Maysville Eag\ November 21 1838 J anua > ^^^^ ^^^^ might have 
wealth stated that the people of Kentucky had displayeo^^^ themselves, be sufficient 
been expected of them m the hope that time and reHectlon^^, ^^^^^^ ^^ .^^^..^^ ^^^ 
to bring back those misguided ^.^^ Jacked disturbers otnerjep ^_^^^^^^^ ^ 
propriety." This moderation, however had led to more ^ ^ j^^ i^^^ ^^ a sp,r,t 
warning was issued against luture ^fso^ this nature ^.hK:h it cont^^.^^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ 
of retaliation which "may. m 'ts turn m^rleap the bo^^^^'^^^^^U-^alth, December 26, 1838.) 
for redress than they have gone to inflict injurj .^^i'^h"" g^ at considerable length this 
The Governor, m his annual message in 1838, discus^ea enactment to 
particular grievance against the Northern AbolUom ^^^^ ^^^^ 
prevent the propagation S^/he views a^id arguments m^^^ a intended to operate 
were professedly circulated for the conviction of Uie masters .^^ ^^^ publication of 
on the slaves. He could see ^^o reason vvhy a man fou a d . ^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^,^^ 
opinions dangerous and ruinous to the security o tne rw „i ^^j ^^.m^ ^agle, December 
be restrained from a publication "iJ"V°"s to his character. ^ > ^^^^ ^^^^ numerous 
4. 11, 19. 1838.) The s^bjfct was eady br^^S^ bf o^^^^^^^^^^^ of assisting and the 
facts brought to light chiefly by the Mahan t"al. siowing tn ^f ^he discussion 
extent of the resultant losses of ^J^ves ^^^IL^^^^pSd once to Columbus. Ohio, where 
was that two commissioners were. aPPomted to proceed at o ^^ ^ 
the Legislature of that State w^smsess on t° endea^or to indu ^^^^^^^^ ^^, e^i,.disposed 
calculated to prevent the interference with the sme prop ^^^^^^ commissioners were 
persons in Ohio. (The Commomve^^^^^^^^ although they were not 
received with courtesy (The Cpmmonwemn. reuiu > . ^Mavsville Eagle, tebruary 
asked to speak before the Legislature as thev ted antu:ipa^^^^^^^ ( ^^^^ approval of the 
2, 1839). The Ohio Legislature m eompl mcc xvith tne %\isneb ^ievances. (Mays- 
Kentucky Commissioners passed a law desu^ned to ren^d> the^ah^^ ^g^ ^^ 
ville Eagle. December 4. 1839 ) Unfortunately inen ^^^ ^^^^^^ Ground Rail- 
r^ol^"s^iie"mTin°?:^tTreVu'n^be'rorr.eri'^orn'ua^ 



THE FAILURE OF EMANCIPATION IN THE 
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1849. 



CHAPTER IX 



The failure to secure the calHng of a constitutional con- 
vention in 1838 did not end anti-slavery efforts in Kentucky. 
The pro-slavery feeling could not be kept at the heat of 1837- 
1838 in view of the relatively slight direct interest of most Ken- 
tucky people in slavery, a fact which left the way open for the 
anti-slavery element to resume their activities. This was recog- 
nized by the anti-slavery leaders, who early took advantage of 
it. By 1840 the cry of radical abolition, which during the thir- 
ties had counteracted anti-slavery sentiment, had lost most of 
its force so that many openly advocated emancipation. ^ 

Cassius M. Clay in 1840, in discussing the slavery issue in 
the state and the nation, said, "There are two classes of fanatics 
in these states; one the anti-slavery fanatics, the 'abolitionists,' 
the other the slave fanatics, the 'disunionists.' In one class are 
those reckless spirits who, to free the slave, would violate the 
national constitution and plunge the country into civil war. 
The other class are those enemies of human liberty and the pro- 
gressive civilization who would destroy the same ever-glorious 
palladium of freedom and equal rights among men, to perpetuate 
slavery. They are both the outlaws of nations and the enemies 
of mankind. The North has her 'abolitionists,' her Garrisons, 
her Tappans. The South has her 'disunionists', her McDuffies 
and her Wickliffes. From such malign influences may Heaven 
in its mercy preserve my native land."^ A comparatively small 
number of either of these classes lived in Kentucky. 

Cassius M. Clay was one of the most enthusiastic, outspoken 
and determined anti-slavery sympathizers in the state during 
the forties. During the early part of his political career, he held 
himself decidedly on the defensive against both the abolitionists 
and the slaveholders. Against the abolitionists he appealed to 
the legal rights of the slaveholder, and on the ethical side of the 

' As in the preceding period numerous plans of gradual emancipation were proposed 
and their merits discussed, ^^ost of these proposals were conservative and they were made 
in many instances, by slaveholders. Of especial interest was a pamphlet published at Paris, 
Kentucky, in 1837, "Remarks on Slavery and the Slave Trade by a Slaveholder," addressed 
to the Hon. Henry Clay. 

' Cassius M. Clay: "Review of the Late Canvass," p. 7. 



112 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

question he demanded freedom of conscience. Against the slave- 
holders he invoked the limits set to slavery by the constitution, 
the law and the public will, because of his belief that from every 
point of view slavery exerted a malign influence upon the de- 
velopment of the state. 3 

A thoroughly honorable and deeply moral nature, such as 
that of Cassius M. Clay, could not long remain in an ambiguous 
position. He was never a clear thinker. His impelling force 
was, and remained, feeling, which reacted to every stimulus 
too vigorously not to involve him in frequent and glaring in- 
consistencies in thought and action. 

After his extended speaking trip through the northern and 
eastern states in 1843, in which slavery was his chief subject of 
discussion, he returned to his native state a much more pro- 
nounced opponent of slavery. He now formally submitted to 
the whole "People of Kentucky" his confession of faith in an ad- 
dress, the substance of which was, "I proudly aver myself the 
eternal enemy of slavery," and "Kentucky must be free."^ He 
would no longer be content with attacking slavery at one point 
or another, but, in so far as concerned his own state, he would 
open fire along the whole line, and would end the struggle only 
with the destruction of slavery. His assertion that Kentucky 
had not the same interest as the plantation states in the main- 
tenance of slavery and that the ninety per cent, or more of her 
people who were not slaveholders had the highest interest in 
the abolition of slavery was too positive and too clear not to 
cause anxiety to slaveholders. His position was forcefully 
stated, in 1843, in a speech before a mass meeting at White Sul- 
phur Springs, in Scott County, for the purpose of advocating the 
annexation of Texas in which he maintained that the most im- 
portant object of those who desired the annexation of Texas was 
to extend the slave territory of the United States. Such action, 
he believed, would seriously threaten the Union, in which Ken- 
tucky was more vitally interested than any other state. All her 
"interests, temporal and eternal, demand of her speedily to ex- 
tinguish slavery within her borders, and to unite her destiny with 
the northern states: who relying upon God, Liberty and Equal- 
ity, will be able to stand against the world in arms."^ And in 

• "The writings of Cassius Marcellus Clay," edited by Horace Greeley, pp. 87, 88. As 
late as 1843 he says: "They (the abolitionists) are few indeed, and deserve, as they receive, 
the execration of good men in both the North and the South." 

• /fctW., p. 1 74f . Soon after his return to Kentucky Clay freed his own slaves, giving them 
employment on his estate at the prevailing wawes. 

• Cassius M. Clay, "Speech on the Annexation of Texas," 1843, Pamphlet, p. 17f. 



Failure of Bin'ancipation — Constitutional Convention 184^ 113 

case of dissolution of the Union he expressed his intention of cast- 
ing in his lot with the North. After expressing his belief in com- 
pensated emancipation he said: "I thus far pledge myself that 
whenever Kentucky will join me in freeing ourselves from this 
curse which weighs us down even unto death, the slaves I own, 
she shall dispose of as to her seems best. I shall ask nothing in 
return but the enha^nced value of my land which must ensure 
gradually from the day that we become indeed a free and inde- 
pendent state. I will go still further — give me free labor and I 
will not only give up my slaves, but I will agree to be taxed to 
buy the remainder from those who are unwilling or unable con- 
sistently with a regard to pecuniary interests to present them to 
the state— and then I shall deem myself and my posterity richer 
in dollars and cents than we were before." *5 He further asserted 
that emancipation in the English West Indies had proved that 
the great majority of the freed men could be employed economic- 
ally in the same offices at small wages as they were then holding, 
with more ease and safety than under the existing conditions.^ 

Of the two leading political parties in the state in 1840, the 
Democrats and the Whigs, the latter had by far the largest num- 
ber of members who favored emancipation. Cassius M. Clay 
and Henry Clay were both Whigs. The former in 1840 and 1841 
represented in the legislature Bourbon County, one of the largest 
slaveholding counties in the state. ^ While the slavery issue 
did not figure in all the political contests in the state during the 
forties it was not unusual for the candidates for Congress and 
the state legislature voluntarily or by request to state their posi- 
tions on the question of emancipation. A typical instance of 
this is found in Fayette County in 1845, when 120 citizens belong- 
ing about equally to both the Whig and the Democratic parties 
signed a communication which they presented to the candidates 
for the state and the national offices, asking them "to let their 
fellow citizens know their present views, and what will be their 
future course, if elected, upon the following important questions 
as follows : 

"1. Are you or not, in favor of the abolition of slavery in 
Kentucky, and if you are, please give a synopsis of your course 
and plan and when it is your wish to see it effected? 

• Cassius M. Clay, "Speech on the Annexation of Texas," Pamphlet, p. 20flf. 
' Ihid., p. 18. 

• In 1843 the Whig candidate for Congress from the Louisville district, Mr. Thomasson, 
an ardent and active anti-slavery worker, was elected. 

The Louisville Public Advertiser (Dem.), Sept. 29, 1843, in commenting upon the 
election, characterized Thomasson as "about as thorough an abolitionist in theory as can be 
found outside the Liberator OfiBce or the World's Convention." 



114 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

"2. Are you or not, in favor of emancipation in Kentucky, 
either gradual or immediate; if you are, we should be pleased to 
hear your views on the subject in full, and how you desire to see 
them consummated. 

"3. If slavery is to cease in Kentucky either by abolition 
or present or gradual emancipation, we respectfully ask you to 
let us hear what you are in favor of doing with the slaves after 
they are freed and are they to remain amongst us here or be 
removed. 

"4. Are you or not, in favor of the change of the constitu- 
tion of Kentucky, and if you are, what changes do you desire? 

"5 . Are you or not, in favor of the entire repeal of the negro 
law, usually called the 'Negro Law of 1832-3' now on our statute 
books?" ^ Robert Wickliffe, the candidate for the legislature 
from Fayette County, refused to answer the inquiry or to take 
the pledge required to oppose the repeal of the Law of 1832-3 and 
as a result was defeated. In a circular addressed to the "Free- 
men of Fayette County," he stated that the abolitionists had 
"ruled and governed" the county from 1840 to 1845 and "put up 
or put down whom they pleased." ^ ^ "When this has been your 
subserviency to the mandates of these clubites," he continued, 
"are you astonished that the abolitionists have located in your 
city, and in other cities and towns in the county?" * ^ 

Early in 1845 Cassius M. Clay, in co-operation with some 
other Kentuckians, made proposals to publish a paper, "The 
True American," devoted to free discussion of gradual emanci- 
pation in Kentucky. In this statement, which attracted nation- 
wide attention, he attempted to show that slavery was morally 
wrong and opposed to the economic interest of Kentucky. 1 2 He 
advised the organization of the anti-slavery forces in all the 
counties of the state and the nomination of candidates pledged 
to support a call for a convention. These candidates were to 
"run again and again till victory shall perch on the standard of 
the free." ^ ^ As early as February 18, in a letter to Gerrit Smith 



• The Liberator, August 15, 1845. Quoted from the Lexington Inquirer. 

>• R. Wickliffe: "A Circular Addressed to the Freemen of the County of Fayette, 
Kentucky." Pamphlet (1845), pp. 6-7. 

" Ibid., V. 18. 

" The Liberator, Feb. 21, 1845. He said further: "Kentuckians will be richer in dol- 
lars and cents by emancipation, and slaveholders will be wealthier by the change. I assert 
from my own knowledge, that lands of the same quality in the free, are from one hundred to 
one hundred and fifty per cent, higher in value than in the slave states — in some cases six 
hundred per cent, higher. Lands six miles from Cincinnati, in Ohio, I .im credibly informed, 
are worth sLxty dollars per acre, whilst in Kentucky, at the same distance from that city, and 
of the same quality are worth only ten dollars per acre. Now the slaveholders of the state 
with rare excejitions are the land owners of the state; they, therefore, absolutely increase their 
fortunes by liberating their slaves, even without compensation." 

" The Liberator, Feb. 21, 1845. 



Failure of Bntancipation — Constitutional Convention 184P 115 

he said that he had already received 240 subscribers in his home 
county and was expecting five or six thousand from the North. ^ * 
During May, W. C. Bell secured in New England subscribers 
for the paper, among whom Daniel Webster was one of the first. ^ ^ 
After reading the prospectus, William Lloyd Garrison predicted 
that Clay would not long be permitted to continue the publi- 
cation. 1 6 

The first number of The True American, which was pub- 
lished weekly, appeared in Lexington, June 3, 1845. The de- 
clared purpose was to accomplish, by discreet argument and by 
legal means, the gradual abolition of slavery in Kentucky. The 
first leading article was devoted to a denunciation of those who 
demanded the suppression of the paper in the interest of sup- 
pressing discussions of slavery. ^ "^ At the outset, The True 
American had about 300 subscribers within the state and about 
1,700 in other states and a few weeks more sufficed to dispel 
any doubt that it would shortly exert influence and power. At 
the end of the first two months of its existence, the subscription 
list had increased to 700 in Kentucky and to 2,700 in other 
states. Not only did the number of its subscribers grow with 
rapidity, alarming to its enemies, but its influence became 
very apparent upon the Kentucky press. ^^ The Green- 
field Gazette (Mass.) said that the paper was destined to exert a 
powerful influence "particularly in the slave states, in bringing 
about the downfall of the accursed institution of slavery in this 
country.* * *This paper, if continued, and we hope that it will be, 
will effect in one year more than can be accomplished by a hun- 
dred Garrisons and his coadjutors in the space of ten.''^^ The 
True American made a strong appeal to the non-slaveholders 
of the state and won considerable favor with them. 

Plans for holding a great emancipation convention on the 
4th of July, 1846, met with the approval of many of the promi- 
nent citizens of the state, many of whom were slaveholders. 2 
The pro-slavery leaders became very much alarmed and deter- 
mined to take steps at once to stop the movement before it was too 

i« The Liberator, April 4, 1845. 

» Ibid., May 2, 1845. 

>• Ibid., Feb. 28, 1845. 

" "Appeal of Cassius M. Clay to Kentucky and the World," Pamphlet, p. 14f. Clay 
was especially bitter in the denunciation of some of his enemies, particularly Robert WickliflFe, 
and he declared his willingness to meet them with the bowie-knife or the pistol. Garrison, 
in The Liberator, June 20, 1845, while approving the general spirit of the paper said that these 
denunciations were "in bad taste, as well as in the wrong spirit, and may lead to bloody results. " 

" Ibid. The anti-slavery leaders at Louisville took the initiatory steps for the estab- 
lishment of a similar paper there. 

" The Liberator, August 1, 1845. 

«• "Appeal of Cassius M. Clay to Kentucky***," p. 5. 



116 The Anii-Slavcry Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

late. On the 14th of August, 1845, "a number of respectable 
citizens" of Lexington resolved to "request" Clay to cease the 
publication of his paper, because it endangered the peace of the 
Commonwealth and the safety of their families. A committee 
upon which two of Clay's most bitter enemies had been placed 
was appointed to acquaint him with this resolution. They 
called at his home and explained that they did not approach him 
in the form of a threat, but exhorted him to consider well that 
his own safety depended upon his answer. - ^ Clay was ill at the 
time and unable to leave his house, but he made a vigorous reply: 
"Traitors to the laws and constitution cannot be deemed respect- 
able by any but assassins, pirates, and highway robbers.* ** I 
treat them with the burning contempt of a brave heart and a loy- 
al citizen. I deny their power and defy their action." 2 2 Fol- 
lowing this communication, he made a number of appeals to the 
people by means of the publication of hand bills and pamphlets, 
which were widely distributed. In these he attempted to prove 
that he was not as black as he had been pictured ; that all his act- 
ions had been strictly legal; and, furthermore, that he desired to 
bring about the abolition of slavery only in a constitutional way. 
He repudiated a number of articles that had appeared in his pa- 
per during his illness, of which he knew nothing before their pub- 
lication, and he promised that in the future the paper would be 
managed with more moderation and discretion and that the dis- 
cussions in its columns would be within narrower limits. A few 
days later he appeared unexpectedly before a large mass meeting 
of his enemies and in a passionate speech attempted to justify 
his conduct as editor of the paper. These appeals had no effect 
upon Clay's enemies, who had already assembled a determined 
mob from the surrounding country to make sure the accomplish- 
ment of their plan. A committee of sixty men, among them 
James B. Clay, a son of Henry Clay, demanded the keys of the 
printing office from the Mayor of the city, to whom they had 
been delivered in accordance with a judicial order. After ad- 
monishing the committee that they were about to commit an 
unlawful act, the Mayor surrendered the keys. The committee 
proceeded at once to the office of The True American which had 
been fortified by Clay with two four pound brass cannon and 
other arms and was defended by six men employed for that pur- 
pose. Clay decided at the last moment not to offer any resist- 

•' "The writinRS of Cassius M. Clay." Vol. 1, p. 290. See also ".Appeal of Cassius M. 
Clay to Kentucky * * *," p. 5. 

" "The writings of Cassius M. Clay," Vol. 1, p. 110. "Appeal of Cassius M. Clay to 
Kentucky ***," p. 1 If. 



Failure of Biitancipation — Coftstitutional Convention iS^g 117 

ance, and the committee in a very orderly way packed up the 
press and the types and sent them to Cincinnati in care of a re- 
liable firm. All the private papers found in the office were care- 
fully bound and mailed to Clay at his residence. 2 3 Clay at once 
filed suit against the leaders and three years later received a 
judgment against James B. Clay and T. H. Waters for $2,500. 
This sum was secured by subscription on the part of the Commit- 
tee of Sixty in Fayette and the adjoining counties. 2 4 The action 
of the "Lexington mob" did not put an end to The True Ameri- 
can, for Clay remained in Lexington and The True American 
continued to be written and dated there, but was thenceforth 
printed in Cincinnati. A few weeks after the removal of his 
press to Cincinnati, Clay published in pamphlet form an "Ap- 
peal to Kentucky and the World" in which he attempted to ex- 
plain and justify his part in connection with The True Ameri- 
can. 25 

Mass meetings were held in various parts of the state, en- 
dorsing the actions of the "Lexington mob." 26 Many of the 
leading newspapers justified the act, but a number were non- 
committal and some actually condemned it as an infringement 
of the freedom of speech and the press. The papers discussed 
at length the advisability of passing a law providing for strict 
censorship of the press with a view to excluding all anti-slavery 
literature from the state. A bill to that effect was introduced 
during January, 1846, and passed the Senate, but was defeated 
in the House, largely by the members from the non-slave hold- 
ing counties. 2 7 

During the controversy just related the Mexican War broke 
out and, although Clay had bitterly condemned the annexation 
of Texas, he enlisted in the army and at the head of a company 
of Kentucky troops marched to the front. He gave the follow- 
ing justification of this action: "In the slave states the political 
forces were quite different from those of the Free states. In the 
former the great mass of the voters could not read; and they 
were led by political speakers on the stump, when the orators of 
both parties made their appeals. It was, therefore, to the suc- 

" "Appeal of Cassius M. Clay to Kentucky ***," p. llf. E. S. Kinkead, "Story of 
Kentuck>'," p. 154. See also, The Liberator, Aug. 29, Sept. 12, Oct. 31. 1845; The Anti- 
Slavery Bugle, Aug. 29, Sept. 5, Oct. 31, 1845; and Niles' Register, Vol. 68, p. 408. Vol. 69, 
pp. 13-15. 

«« "Writings of Cassius M. Clay," Vol. 1, p. 108. See also Liberator, Oct. 17, 1845; 
July 14, 1848. 

" "Appealof Cassius M. Clay to Kentucky ***," Sept. 25, 1845. Appeared in The True 
American, Sept. 5, 1845. 

•' A meeting was called at Washington, Mason County, by a notice signed by 456 citizens. 
The meeting, one of the largest ever held in the county, adopted strong resolutions approving 
the actions of the "Lexington mob." Maysville Eagle, Oct. 5, 1845. 

" The Liberator, March 20, 1846, quoted from The True American. 



118 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

cessful progress of my cause that I should add to the liberty of 
the press the liberty of public discussion. * * *Kentuckians being 
exceptionally, from their early history, fond of military glory, 
I hoped by the Mexican War, to strengthen myself so that I 
could take the stump, when I would be an overmatch for all my 
foes; when, if deemed necessary. The True American could be 
located at some point secure against mobs, and act as an ally of 
public discussion. The result proved that I was right." ^s 

Clay left his friend, John C. Vaughan, a South Carolinian 
by birth, in charge of the paper during his absence, with his 
brother Brutus J. Clay as his financial manager. The sub- 
scription list fell off considerably after the opening of the War 
and in view of the uncertainty of Clay's return it was thought 
best after several months to give up the publication of the pa- 
per. 2 9 Thereupon Vaughan took the materials and list of sub- 
scribers and located in Louisville, where associated with F. 
Crosley, a Kentuckian, he started the publication of an anti- 
slavery paper on the order of The True American, The Examin- 
er, ^o which first appeared June 19, 1847.3 1 

In the first number the objects were given in the following 
words: "The necessity of such a paper as The Examiner seems 
clear enough to our friends, Because: 

' ' First , of the extent of the anti-slavery sentiment in Kentucky. 
There never was a period when our people did not feel it. At 
the formation of our constitution the convention came within a 
few votes of inserting in it a gradual emancipation clause, and 
in 1832 public opinion was almost ripe for such a step. The 
feeling is not apparently as strong now. It is still, however, in 
its outspoken form an energetic element and if all causes of in- 
terest were removed we believe it would be overwhelming in its 
action. Shall this sentiment have no organ?* * *The objectof The 
Examiner will be to represent the anti-slavery sentiment in Ken- 
tucky, and as far as it can, to extend it — to inquire into and to 
discuss all reform measures and to advocate, to the best of its 
ability every claim of humanity. * * * If a single person labors by 

» Henry Clay and the majority of the Whigs of Kentucky opposed the annexation of 
Texas. In 1847 Henry Clay, as presiding officer of a great mass meeting at Lexington, spoke 
for two hours and a half against President Polk's action in sending General Taylor into the 
disputed territory, thus precipitating hostilities. Resolutions were adopted opposing the 
annexation of any territory which might be secured as a result of the war. (Anti-Slavery Bugle, 
November 26; December 16, 1847.) The Cleveland Herald, in commenting upon Clay's 
speech said that the speech "would do more good than 10,000 abolition lectures to help forward 
the glorious era of emancipation." (Anti-Slavery Bugle, December 10, 1847.) 

» "Writing of Cassius M. Clav," Vol. 1, p. 175. 

» "Writings of Cassius M. Clay," Vol. 1, p. 109f. 

•' The Examiner, June 19, 1847. A file of this paper is in the Library of the University 
of Chicago. See also The Examiner, Sept. 11, 1847. John Heywood and Noble Butler were 
later added to the staff. 



Failure of Bmancipation — Constitutional Convention 1849 119 

himself, the power which consists in union is wanting. A drop 
of rain will produce no moisture on the dry clod ; but when it is 
united with other drops, the copious shower revives the dying 
plant and gladdens the whole face of nature. If thus we are 
united, we shall make Kentucky the home of the free, as well as 
as of the brave, and awaken in our sister states of the South the 
spirit which will not tire until crowned with the glory of uni- 
versal emancipation." 3 2 A few weeks later the editor asserted 
that The Examiner was "strictly an anti-slavery paper, and the 
organ and exponent of the emancipation movement in Ken- 
tucky." ^ 3 

In the first number was begun a long series of articles signed 
"A Carolinian" and entitled an "Inquiry into the causes which 
have retarded the accumulation of wealth and increase of popu- 
lation in the southern states." 34 A little later was printed the 
speech of David Rice before the Constitutional Convention of 
Kentucky in 1792 in support of a proposed amendment provid- 
ing for gradual emancipation. ^^ A number of other articles 
appeared from time to time, mostly of an economic character, 
running through several issues of the paper. 3 ^ The most im- 
portant of these was a serial in twenty-five parts on "Thoughts 
of Emancipation." 3 7 Many of these articles were copied into 
other Kentucky papers and found in that way more extensive 
circulation. 

A comparatively small amount of opposition on the 
part of the Kentucky press was manifested to the publica- 
tion of The Examiner. The Louisville Journal, a Democratic 
paper, said of it: "We take pleasure in saying from our personal 
knowledge of the editors of The Examiner, we are confident they 
will discuss it (slavery) with abiHty, and in a spirit of calmness 
and moderation offering no occasion for offense to any portion 
of the community." 3 8 The other Louisville papers maintained 
the same attitude with the single exception of the Baptist Ban- 
ner and Pioneer, which stated that "The Examiner is, we take 

« The Examiner, June 19, 1847. Clay, in a letter to the Examiner dated Dec. 18, 1847, 
said, "The Examiner has succeeded The True American. My detention m a Mexican prison 
delayed my return longer than was anticipated; the editor of The Examiner has forestalled my 
wishes, and is now fulfiUing all my obligations to my subscribers by substituting his paper for 
mine. Those who have seen both papers will not regret the change. I ask for him the con- 
tinuance of that generous support in that cause which was m me shown dear to so many noble 

Americans." _ „ , _, l . .o.o 

" The Examiner, Sept. 11. 1847. See also March 4, 1848. 

» The Examiner, June 19. 1S47, July 3, 1847. 

»» Ibid.. Aug. 28, Sept. 4, 14, 1847. „ . c- . u i 

t^ Ibid September 2, 1847. Number 3 of "Elements of Progress appeared September 2 ; 
Number 1 of "Effects of Slaverj- on Industry" appeared February 6. 1848. 

iNumoer A^j^^^^j^^^ ^^ Emancipation," September, 1847, to June 10, 1848. They were signed 
"A," the real author being Jas. M. Pendleton, of Bowhng Green. 

" The Louisville Journal, June 22, 1847. 



120 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 18^0 

it, 'The True American' revived," and "they will mistake the 
spirit of our citizens, if they encourage an avowed notorious 
abolitionist of a neighboring city, to come here or to remain in 
Cincinnati (Mr. Vaughan was at that time a resident of that 
place), where he now resides, and throw firebrands into the com- 
munity. " ^ " The confidence of the Louisville press was justified. 
The Examiner was at all times conducted in a spirit of fairness 
and retained in consequence the respect and the friendship of 
the majority of the papers of the state. At the end of the first 
year of the existence of the paper, the opposition, which in some 
sections had been pronounced at first, had practically subsid- 
ed. *« The Journal and the Courier of Louisville, and the 
Shelbyville News spoke in the highest terms of The Examiner 
and frequently copied articles from it. The Journal declared 
that it was the best paper of its class in the Union and said that 
the editors were "gentlemen of the most decided ability, and 
some of the ablest men in the state are contributors to its col- 
umns."^^ 

All this agitation could not go on without producing some 
effect politically. In fact, the anti-slavery workers, undis- 
couraged by the defeat of the convention in 1838, had persis- 
tently labored to have the question of a convention again sub- 
mitted to the people. Inasmuch as the constitution of 1799 
had many defects which needed remedying, and since the anti- 
slavery forces did not seem to be strong enough to make a con- 
vention dangerous, the pro-slavery men joined with anti-slavery 
men in demanding that the question of a convention be submit- 
ted to a vote. During the early part of January, 1846, a bill to 
this effect passed the House of Representatives, but was rejected 
in the Senate. ^^ j^ the following year, it passed both Houses 
and the first vote was set for August, 1847. In the interval be- 
tween the issuance of the call and the first vote on the conven- 
tion, the an ti -slavery element was very active in some sections 
of the state, especially in and around Louisville, which, due 
largely to the industrial character of the city, had become the 
stronghold of anti-slavery in the state. In other sections the 
slavery question seemed to be of minor consideration. In the 
August election, the people supported the call for a convention 
by a majority of about 30,000 votes. ^ 3 The Examiner, in re- 

•• The Baptist Banner and Pioneer, June 23, 1847. 

" The Examiner, June 17, 1848. October 28, it was stated that "The day has gone 
by when a frown, a threat or a curse was sufficient to paralyze the human tongue." 

«' The Louisville Journal, October 21, 1848. 

« The Commonwealth. Jan. 20, 1846; The Presbyterian Herald, Jan. 15, 1846. The 
vote in the House was 56 to 40 and in the Senate, 18 to 20. 

" Niles' Register, Vol. 72, p. 400; The Examiner, August 4, September 4, October 9. 1847. 



Failure of Emancipation — Constitutional Convention 184Q 121 

viewing the results of the election, said: "We do not say that all 
who voted for the convention are in favor of emancipation; but 
this we do say, that the great majority are."^* The Louisville 
Courier also maintained that the anti-slavery men had forced 
the call for a convention, ^s The mountainous counties in the 
eastern part of the state, where but few slaves were held, and 
the counties along the Ohio River gave the largest majorities 
for the bill. 4 6 

In the second election held a year later, the people again 
sanctioned the calling of a constitutional convention by about 
the same majority. ^ 7 It then became the duty of the legisla- 
ture, which did not meet until January, 1849, to arrange for the 
election of delegates and the time and the place for the meeting 
of the convention. 

The year 1848 was marked by a revival of interest in eman- 
cipation and this interest increased with the approach of the 
time for the election of delegates. Discussions of emancipation 
in the newspapers and on the stump became much more general. 
For the first time in the history of the state, the question of local 
option as a means of abolishing slavery was now seriously advo- 
cated. A large number of similar proposals appeared in The Ex- 
aminer, which, as was to be expected, entertained a kindly feel- 
ing toward the idea. By this plan two-thirds of the vote in any 
county might abolish slavery in that county. ^^ The Examiner 
maintained that if such a plan should be adopted in all the slave 
states it would be only a question of a few years until eastern 
Kentucky, eastern Tennessee and western Virginia, western 
North Carolina and western South Carolina would abolish slav- 
ery, as well as a number of the river counties of Kentucky. 
Louisville, it was beUeved, would not delay such action a single 
year. 4 9 The Examiner spoke encouragingly of the growing 
emancipation sentiment in the state, s" 

" The Examiner, August 4, 1847. 

" The Louisville Courier, August 6, 1 847. 

«• The Examiner, October 9, 1847. 

" Niles' Register, Vol. 74, p. 277. The Louisville Courier, February 21, 1849, in com- 
menting on the recent election said, "We should like to know what particular object those 
gentlemen, who are fighting so much against emancipation think the people of Kentucky had 
in voting in favor of a convention. What great evil did the people feel pressing upon them 
to require the immense vote of 101,828 in favor of remodeling the constitution? The magis- 
tracy has never been felt as an oppression, the mode of appointing sheriffs is not very disas- 
trous to the people, nor have the clerkships ever been felt as a serious oppression. What 
great predominant idea was upon the public mind, if it was not the principle of emancipation? 
Scarcely a soHtary friend of perpetual slavery can be found among the 101,828 votes in favor 
of a convention.** * All attempts to hinder discussion, to choke off free inquiry, or to paralyze 
public sentiment will recoil on the heads of those who make the attempt. The people of Ken- 
tucky know their rights and will maintain them." 

" The Examiner, January 8; March 25; June 10, 1848. 

" The Examiner, March 25, 1848. 

»• The Examiner, April 8, 1848. 



122 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to i8§o 

In February of 1848, emancipation meetings composed of 
many of the leading men of both poHtical parties were held in 
Louisville and committees were appointed for the purpose of 
forming plans for the coming elections. A general address was 
issued to the people of Kentucky advocating the adoption of 
some plan of gradual emancipation. -^ ' As the question of eman- 
cipation attracted more and more attention throughout the 
state, numerous plans were proposed, most of which called for 
some slow conservative plan of gradual emancipation. ^ 2 Dur- 
ing the summer of 1848 Ex-Governor Letcher, of Kentucky, in a 
speech at IndianapoHs, Indiana, in discussing the question of 
emancipation in his own state declared that only the radical ele- 
ment of the extreme South desired the extension of slavery and 
that he believed that the people of Kentucky, in the coming 
constitutional convention, would provide some plan for the grad- 
ual emancipation of slaves, s^ A number of the leading news- 
papers of the state came out for emancipation about this time. 
The Lexington Atlas prided itself on being the only Whig news- 
paper in the state which had taken a decided stand against eman- 
cipation. ^^ While the Louisville Courier was an enthusiastic 
supporter of emancipation, the Louisville Journal took little 
part in the campaign, believing that there was little chance for 
the success of emancipation at that time. ^ ^ This was also the 
position of the Lexington Observer and other newspapers in the 
state. 

The editor of The Examiner said that the subject of eman- 
cipation was becoming more and more the engrossing topic 
throughout the state. Even in neighborhoods in which the dis- 
cussion of the subject had been unusual, men now expressed their 
opinions freely. It was the duty of the friends of emancipation 
to promote these discussions, but a warning was issued to be "ex- 
tremely careful to keep aloof from angry and embittered con- 
troversy, which always confirms the prejudices of the opponent. 
Be gentle, discreet, and yet firm. Do not hazard any wild prop- 
ositions. Keep attention fixed on those evils which result from 
slavery and are sufficiently manifest in every section of the state. 
Let slavery in the abstract, as it is called, alone, and talk of 

»' The Examiner, March 3, 17, 1848. William L. Breckinridge was one of the most 
active of the Louisville anti-slavery members. 

" One plan called for the freeinK of all males born after 1850, at the ase of 25, and of all 
females at the age of 21. (.Anti-Slavery Bucle, 55eptember 15, 1848.) See also. The Examiner, 
October 28, 1848. A series of 12 articles addressed to the "Mechanics Workingmen of Ken- 
tucky," was running at this time. 

" Indianapolis Journal, October 9, 1848. 

•* The Examiner, January 27, 1849. 

" The Louisville Journal, January 23, 1849. 



Failure of Bfnancipation — Constitutional Convention 184.Q 123 

slavery as it exists around us." ^ ^ During the latter part of 1848, 
a number of the most prominent men in the state issued ^^ a long 
"Address to the People of Kentucky," advocating the adoption 
of a plan of emancipation similar to the plan by which Pennsyl- 
vania, New York, and New Jersey had abolished slavery. They 
expressed the hope that this plan might be accompanied by a 
system of African colonization that would remove the blacks 
from Kentucky as fast as they were freed. ^^ xhe Western Ken- 
tuckian, in commenting upon the address, said: "We again in- 
voke the attention of our readers to this document. Its authors 
are men of talents and character whose interests are all bound 
up in the fortunes of the state. What they would propose for 
her amelioration, therefore, may well be supposed worthy of the 
notice, if not of the approbation, of her citizens." ^^ 

The pro-slavery leaders were equally active during this time. 
To counteract the influence of The Examiner and other news- 
papers supporting emancipation they decided to establish in 
Louisville a newspaper, The Chronicle, for the express purpose 
of opposing any form of emancipation whatever. ^ ° While as a 
rule they upheld free discussion, ''^ there were occasional threats 
of violence and a few cases in which an attempt was made to sup- 
press discussion of the subject in the press and on the platform. ^ 2 
Cassius M. Clay and other anti-slavery leaders made it their 
special business to uphold the freedom of the press and not to be 
intimidated, because they realized that if they were not permit- 
ted to speak freely according to their constitutional rights, their 
whole scheme of emancipation would certainly fail. Clay made 
it a policy to speak publicly in every town where violence had 
occurred. W^henjohn G. Fee was prevented by violence from 
preaching near Crab Orchard, Lincoln County, because he op- 
posed slavery. Clay at once arranged to speak in the same place 
on slavery and had posters widely circulated. Armed and sur- 
rounded by armed followers he delivered the address without 
any disturbance. « 3 In another instance, in the same county, 
the pro-slavery element met at Stanford, the county seat, and 

•• The Examiner, November 25, 1848. 

" The address was signed by Chancellor S. S. Nicholas, Pat. Maxcy, D. L. Beatty. 
Reuben Dawson, William P. Boone, T. S. Bell, W. W. Worsley, William Richardson, W. E. 
Glover, Bland Ballard, and James Speed. 

" The Examiner, December 30, 1848. The address covered six columns of the paper. 

»» The Examiner, February 3, 1849. Quoted. 

" Georgetown Herald, December 30, 1848. 

" During the late fall of 1848, Geo. W. Johnson addressed a long letter to the citizens 
of Scott County opposing constitutional abolition. He was one of the leading lawyers of the 
state. His main objection to emancipation was the problem of the free Negro. The E.xaminer, 
October 28. 1848. Anti-Slavery Bugle, November 10, 1848. 

" The Louisville Courier, August 14, 1848; Niles' Register, Vol. 75, p. 125; Wegham: 
"Anti-Slavery Cause in America," pp. 47-51. 

" "Writings of Cassius M. Clay," Vol. 1, pp. 75-78. 



124 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

adopted resolutions threatening with death anyone who might 
discuss slavery. This was done with reference to Clay, rather 
than to Fee. Clay at once made an appointment to speak in the 
court house at Stanford. Knowing that he would speak or die, 
a committee of the best citizens of Stanford was sent thirty 
miles to Clay's residence to persuade him to cancel the appoint- 
ment. After patiently listening to their appeal, he said, "Gen- 
tlemen, say to your friends that I appreciate their kindness in 
sending you to advise with me; but, God willing, I shall speak 
in Stanford on the day named." On the day named surrounded 
by several friends, with a pistol on the desk in front of him, he 
delivered a long address without a single interruption before 
one of the largest crowds ever assembled in the county. ^^ The 
result of this policy was a more free discussion of slavery than 
ever before. Many of the leading pro-slavery men and pro- 
slavery papers now desired to have the question thoroughly 
threshed out and permanently settled. 

With the desire to secure a full expression of opinion on the 
subject of slavery, a bill was introduced in the legislature re- 
quiring the election officials to submit to each voter at the next 
regular election in the state the question: "Are you in fa\'or of 
the indefinite continuance of slavery, or of a system of gradual 
emancipation with a constitutional provision for the ultimate 
removal of the African race." Both The Examiner and the 
Louisville Courier strongly advocated a direct vote on the ques- 
tion of emancipation. The Courier said: "We dare the enemies 
of emancipation to put this question to the people of Kentucky 
so that they may vote on that question alone." ^*a The bill 
failed of passage and the House of Representatives by a unani- 
mous vote proceeded to adopt the following expression of opinion : 
"Resolved that we, the representatives of the people of Ken- 
tucky, are opposed to abolition or emancipation of slavery in any 
form or shape whatever, except as now provided for by the con- 
stitution and laws of the state." "^ The legislature then ordered 
the election of delegates to the constitutional convention. The 
elections were to be held in August and the convention was to 
assemble the first Monday in October, 1849. ^^^ 

No sooner had the date of the election been set than both 
pro-slavery and anti-slavery men began to hold meetings, draw 

•• "Writings of Cassius M. Clay," Vol. 1, p. 177f. 

"a Tlie Louisville Courier, February 5, 1849; The Examiner, February 10. 23. 1849. 

•• Journal of the House, February 3, 1849. Louisville Journal, January 20, 1849; 
Niles' Register, Vol. 75, p. 108. The Whigs had a decided majority in both houses of the legis- 
lature. 

•• Niles' Register, VoL 75, p. 256. 



Failure of Bmaiicipation — Constitutional Convention 184^ 125 

up resolutions and nominate candidates. As early as February, 
a call, signed by 270 citizens of Mason County, was issued for a 
pro-slavery convention to "oppose meddling with the slavery 
question." 6 7 A similar meeting was held in Woodford county 
about the same time.<5** The emancipationists were equally 
active. Early in February, 523 citizens of Mason county signed 
a call for an emancipation convention to be held at Maysville 
on February the 12th. The meeting was unusually well attend- 
ed and among those present were many of the oldest and most 
prominent men in the county. Resolutions were adopted ex- 
pressive of the opinion "that a gradual and prospective system 
of emancipation accompanied by colonization should be adopted 
by our state," and that the meeting regarded such a "project as 
practical, politic and humane and earnestly desire to see it ac- 
complished." The members pledged themselves not to support 
any man for the convention who would not pledge himself to the 
principle set forth in the resolution adopted in the meeting. ^^ 
Of even more importance was an emancipation meeting held at 
Louisville, February 1 . After approving emancipation through a 
change in the constitution a committee was appointed to draft 
resolutions expressive of the sense of the meeting which should be 
considered at a second meeting to be held at Louisville, February 
12, and which upon approval should be issued as a public address 
to the people of Kentucky. ^o At the meeting on the 12th a 
series of five resolutions endorsing emancipation as reported by the 
committee was adopted and a long address was issued to the friends 
of emancipation throughout the state urging them to send dele- 
gates to a state convention to be held at Frankfort, April 25, 
for the purpose of uniting on some plan of emancipation and 
perfecting a state organization to secure the election of delegates 
favoring emancipation to the constitutional convention. ''^ 
Anti-slavery workers were warned against making radical utter- 
ances. ^ 2 William L. Breckinridge in an able address urged the 
centering of all attention upon emancipation and emancipation 



" Anti-Slavery Bugle, February 16, 1849. 

" The Examiner, February 17, 1849; Niles' Register, Vol. 75, p. 256. 

" The Presbyterian Herald, March 1, 1849; The Examiner, February 24, 1849. Among 
the signers of the resolution were Henry Waller, Gen. Richard Collins, F. T. Hord, Hon. John 
Chambers, Edward L. Bullock, Adam Beatty, E. C. Phister, Granville Young, John C. McClung. 

" The Louisville Journal, February 2, 1849. W. W. Worsley presided over the meeting. 
The committee was composed of James Speed, Bland Ballard, Robert Dawson, Thomas H. 
Shreve, W. E. Glover, and William L. Breckinridge. 

" The Examiner, February 17. 1849; The Presbyterian Herald, February 15, 1849, 
in speaking of this meeting said: "The greatest harmony prevailed and it is but seldom that 
the proceedings of a meeting as large and as enthusiastic is conducted with so much decorum." 
See also Niles' Register, Vol. 75, p. 256. Both the address and the resolutions are quoted in 
The Presbyterian Herald for March 1, 1849. 

" The Presbyterian Herald. March 1, 1849. 



126 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

was to be accompanied always by some plan of colonization. ^ 3 
He asserted that the main reasons for the defeat of emancipation 
in the constitutional convention of 1799 were the radical utter- 
ances and the radical plans of many of the emancipationists. " •* 

The emancipation cause received a powerful impetus about 
this time as a result of a letter written by Henry Clay from New 
Orleans, February 17, to Richard Pindell, of Kentucky, in which 
he recommended that measures be taken for the extermination 
of slavery by the adoption of some plan for gradual emancipa- 
tion in the coming constitutional convention. The letter was 
written for publication and was an answer to a request from Pin- 
dell and certain of his friends for an expression of opinion on 
emancipation. 

After stating his belief in emancipation. Clay said that three 
principles should regulate the establishment of a system of grad- 
ual emancipation: First, that it should be slow in its operation, 
cautious and gradual so as to occasion no convulsion or rash or 
sudden disturbance in the existing habits of society; second, that, 
as an indispensable condition, the emancipated slaves should be 
removed from the state to some colony; and third, that the ex- 
penses of their transportation to this colony, including an outfit 
for six months after their arrival, should be defrayed by a fund 
to be secured from the labor of each freed slave. He believed 
that any change in the condition of society should be marked 
with extreme care and circumspection. Consequently, any plan 
for emancipation that he might favor would necessarily be con- 
servative. He believed that all slaves born after a certain peri- 
od should be free at a specified age, and that all born before 
should remain slaves for life. That period, he believed, should 
be 1855 or even 1860. All slaves born after the date decided 
upon should be free at the age of twenty-five, but should be 
liable to be hired out, under the authority of the state, for a term 
not exceeding three years in order to raise a sum sufificient to 
pay the expense of their transportation and an outfit for six 
months following their arrival at the colony. The offspring of 
this class were to be free at birth, but were to be apprenticed out 
until they were twenty-one years of age, when they were liable 
to be hired out for three years to secure money to meet the ex- 
penses of their transportation. He regarded the colonization of 
the freed men as indispensable to any scheme of emancipation. 



'» BreckinridKC Papers, W. L. BreckinridRC to R. J. BreckinridKe. February 12, 1849. 
'• Ibid. 



Failure of Emancipation — Constitutional Convention 184^ 127 

"The color, passions and prejudices," he said, would forever pre- 
vent the two races from living together in a state of cordial 
union. Social, moral and political degradation would be the 
inevitable lot of the colored race." Clay could see no reason 
why the freed slaves could not be successfully transported to 
some colony without any great economic loss to the state. In 
fact, he maintained that the enhanced value of their lands and 
the benefits derived from free labor would more than compen- 
sate the state for any losses which might be incurred. In speak- 
ing of the political effects of emancipation in Kentucky he said : 
"It may be urged that we ought not, by the gradual abolition 
of slavery, to separate ourselves from the other slave states, but 
to continue to share with them in all their future fortunes.* * *The 
government of each slave state is bound, by the highest and most 
solemn obligations, to dispose of the question of slavery, so as 
best to promote the peace, happiness and prosperity of the people 
of the state. Kentucky being essentially a farming state, slave 
labor is less profitable than in other states. If in most of the 
other slave states they find that labor more profitable, in the 
culture of the staples of cotton and sugar, they may perceive a 
reason in that feeling for continuing slavery, which it cannot be 
expected should control the judgment of Kentucky, as to what 
may be fitting and proper for her interest." In conclusion he 
said "Kentucky enjoys high respect and honorable consideration 
throughout the Union and throughout the civilized world ; but, 
in my humble opinion, no title which she has to the esteem and 
admiration of mankind, no deeds of her former glory, would 
equal, in greatness and grandeur, that of being the pioneer state 
in removing from her soil every trace of human slavery, and in 
establishing the descendants of Africa within her jurisdiction 
in the native land of their forefathers." ^^ 

The southern papers were particularly bitter in their de- 
nunciation. The Richmond Inquirer (Virginia) said: "Henry 
Clay's true character now stands revealed. The man is an abol- 
itionist. He takes his position with Giddings and Hale. Those 
are the sentiments long ago expressed by all the organs of aboli- 
tion. That is the spirit which breathes in all their writings and 
speakings. And the letter has been received with rapturous 
applause by all the abolitionist newspapers and by all the abol- 
itionist people in the United States." ^<5 The Augusta Banner, 



'• The Examiner, March 10, 1849; Cincinnati Chronicle, March 6, 1849. 
'• The Liberator, May 4, 1849. Quoted. 



128 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 18^0 

even more antagonistic, said, "Of course, then his doctrines, if 
carried out, would lead to the abolition of slavery in every state 
in which it now exists. We differ in opinion from Mr. Clay. 
Slavery is a blessing rather than an evil.* * *The doctrine is gener- 
ally entertained at the South as well as at the North, that any 
state has the right to abolish slavery. We do not concur in this 
opinion, however popular or general it may be We think that 
even Mr. Clay's great influence will fail to make Kentucky adopt 
his plan, however plausibly cautious it may be.* * *If Kentucky 
should take measures to place herself in a position hostile to the 
institutions of the other Southern States, it will devolve upon them 
to devise the most proper means for self-protection." ^ 7 The 
New Orleans Crescent said: "That slavery will be abolished in 
Kentucky by the coming convention there is now no doubt. All 
the leading men in the state are in favor of it; it is for the obvious 
interests of the state to substitute free for slave labor ; the scheme 
may be carried out without much if any loss, and with a show of 
liberality which will gain the praise of magnanimity from the 
unthinking. If Kentucky will abolish slavery she should take 
all the responsibilities for the act — if she will join the Northern 
allies let her do so at her own risk — if she be anxious no longer 
to make common cause with the south, she has a right to go over, 
but there is no reason why the other Southern States should build 
a bridge to facilitate her passage." ''« 

In the North the Modern Abolitionists, of whom William 
Lloyd Garrison was the chief representative, also condemned 
Clay's program as only a half-way measure, but its moderation 
secured the approval of many anti-slavery workers. 

In Kentucky Clay's letter secured by no means uniform 
approval. In the county of Trimble, a people's meeting adopted 
a series of resolutions offered by John Robert, a Whig, requesting 
Henry Clay to resign his seat in the United States Senate in 
consequence of the sentiments expressed in his letter to Richard 
Pindell on the subject of slavery. ^^ Nor was Clay unprepared 
for this condemnation. In a letter to his son James, March 3, 
1849, he said, "As you were absent I sent to Richard Pindell a 
letter on the Emancipation Question. As I regret to hear that 
it was not popular, I suppose that my letter will bring on me 

" The Liberutor, July 27, 1849. Quoted. 
'• The Examiner, April 7, 1849. Quoted. 
" Niles' Weekly Register, \'ol. 75, pp. 185, 384. 



Failure of Bmancipation — Constitutional Convention 1849 129 

some odium. I nevertheless wish it published. I owe that to 
the cause, and to myself, and to posterity. "^^^ 

The Pindell letter was reprinted in all sections of the country 
by newspapers of every class, and the editors generally, whether 
they approved it or not, agreed in considering it a document of 
great importance, destined to wield a vast influence. In Ken- 
tucky, as in the country as a whole, Clay's influence was very 
great, and consequently his support of emancipation at least 
greatly encouraged and emboldened the anti-slavery workers 
and helped to ensure a free discussion of the subject. ^^ 

In the slavery controversy in Kentucky, two main issues 
appear — the interest of Kentucky, as Clay and others represented 
it, as being hostile to slavery, on the one hand ; and on the other, 
the reluctance to desert the South, a feeling based partly on 
political sympathy and partly, perhaps, on a fear of economic 
retaliation. This conflict appears in the campaign elections 
preparatory to the constitutional convention. 

It has been shown that the state convention was proposed for 
the purpose of furthering emancipation and that it was to meet 
at Frankfort on the 25th of April. In March a mass meeting 
of emancipationists was held in Danville, and delegates were 
elected to this convention. The meeting was a large and en- 
thusiastic one with at least 500 men, one-half of whom were 
slaveholders, present. '^- A similar meeting was held at Frankfort 
in the same month, when 50 delegates were elected to the con- 
vention. ^ 3 A meeting of citizens of Lexington and Fayette 
county "opposed to the perpetuation of slavery," was held 
in April. 8 4 The object of the meeting was explained by Henry 
Clay in a long address. On motion of Robert J. Breckinridge, 
it was resolved that slavery was contrary to the rights of man- 
kind, opposed to the fundamental principles of free government, 
inconsistent with a state of sound morality, hostile to the pros- 

»• Clay's Private Correspondence, p. 585. 

•' About this time the Presbyterian Herald, as well as other papers, came out in support 
of emancipation. On March 1 it said: "We are equally well convinced that slavery is an 
incubus upon the prosperity of the state in all its interests. Its climate, its soil, its geographi- 
cal position surrounded as it is by a cordon of free states, which are outstripping it in population, 
wealth and enterprise, all proclaim that it must eventually become a free state." (The Presby- 
terian Herald, March 1, 1849.) William L. Breckinridge, who was associated with this paper, 
and who was a large slaveowner himself, wrote many articles advocating emancipation, which 
appeared in a number of papers throughout the state. In these he proposed the absolute 
prohibition of the importation of slaves, the freeing of all slaves born after a fixed date upon 
their reaching the age of twenty-five and lastly the holding of all slaves upon receiving their 
freedom under the control of the state and the hiring them out until enough money was secured 
to pay for their transportation to Africa. (The Examiner, March 3; April 7, 16, 1849. See 
also The Paris Citizen, February 28, 1849.) 

" The Presbyterian Herald, March 15, 1849; The Examiner, March .31, 1849. 

«• The Examiner, March 31, 1849. Dr. W. A. McDowell acted as presiding officer of 
the meeting. 

«* The Lexington Atlas, April 17, 1849. Edward Oldham acted as president of the 
meeting and W. A. Dudley as secretary. 



130 The Anil-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

perity of the Commonwealth and that in the forthcoming 
constitutional convention steps should be taken to ameliorate 
the condition of slaves, "in such way as shall be found prac- 
ticable in itself, just as regards the masters of slaves, and bene- 
ficial to the slaves themselves." ^^ Thirty men were named as 
delegates to the Frankfort Convention. «^ Similar conventions 
were held in many of the counties of the state and delegates 
were elected, s'' Candidates were also nominated or endorsed 
for the election of delegates to the constitutional convention 
in October. 

The Frankfort convention assembled at the appointed 
time with more than one hundred and fifty delegates from 24 
different counties present. * « Among the delegates were Henry 
Clay, from Bourbon County; Robert J. Breckinridge, from 
Fayette county; J. G. Fee, from Lewis County; Cassius M. 
Clay, from Madison county; and Senator J. R. Underwood, 
from Spencer county. ^ 9 Both political parties and all classes 
of the population were represented. A majority of the dele- 
gates were slaveholders, who owned in all about 3,000 slaves. »° 
The Frankfort Commonwealth, an opponent of emancipation, 
said of the convention : "It is perhaps the first general convention 
of the citizens of Kentucky favorable to the organization of 
an emancipation party, ever held in the state, and a regard for 
truth compels us to say that we have never seen, on any oc- 
casion, here or elsewhere, a more intelligent and respectable 
body of men. "9 1 Twenty-one, or nearly one-seventh of the 
total membership of the convention, were ministers.^- 

The convention was called to order by J. R. Thornton, of 
Bourbon county, after which Henry Clay was elected Presi- 

«' The LexiiiRton .-Mlas, April 17, 1849. See also The Examiner April 14, 1849; The 
Presbyterian Herald, April 19, 1849. 

•• The Lexington Atlas, April 17. 1849. The delegates were Edward Oldham, Samuel 
Shy, M. C. Johnson, Robert J. Breckinridge, H. P. Lewis, A. V^anmeter, C. H. Barldey, John 
A. Hull, John Hurd, E. C. Dudley. Georse R. Trotter, William Rhodes, James Turner. W. PuUea, 
John W. Clark, Carter R. Harrison, O. D. Winn, GeorKe W. Sutton, O. D. McCullough. John 
T. Bruce, J. J. Hunter, William K. Wallace, Richard Pindell, James Asliton, George P. Jouett, 
Matthew T. Scott, T. Dolan, B. Keer. 

•' The Examiner, April 7, 1849, stated that the following counties had elected dele- , 
gates to the Frankfort Convcrtion: Boone, Bourbon, Boyle, Barren, Fayette, Jefferson, Lin- 
coln, Logan, Lewis. Mecklenburg, Muhlenberg, Madison, Mason, McCracken, iVlercer, Nelson, 
Oldham, Scott, Shelby, Warren, and Woodford. For details of the various meetings, see 
The Examiner, April 7, 14, 18, 21, 28, 1849. 

•" The Examiner, April 28; May 5, 1849. The latest number gives the number of 
representatives from the different counties as follows: Barren, 1; Bath, 1; Boone, 6; Bourbon, 14; 
Boyle, 8; Fayette, 19; Franklin, 19; Garrard, 2; Henry, 5; Jefferson, 6; Kenton, 1; Lewis, 2; 
Lincoln, 1; Louisville, 22; Madison, 3; Mercer. 6; Kelson, 5; Nicholas, 3; Oldham, 3; Owen, 1; 
Pulaski, 2; Scott, 5, Shelby, 17; Spencer, 4; Warren, 1. 

•• The Examiner, April 25; May S, 1849. T. F. Marshall, Adam Beatty, S. S. Nicholas, 
W. L. Breckinridge and J. A. McClung were in attendance. 

w The Presbyterian Herald, May 5, 1849. 

•' Ibid. Quoted. Tliirtcen of the ministers were Presbyterians, six Methodists, one 
Baptist, one L^nitarian, and one Campbellite. 

•' Ibid. There was also considerable talk of holding a meeting of the ministers of the 
state who favored emancipation. See Breckinridge Papers for 1849. 



i 



Pailure of Emancipation — Constitutional Convention 184P 131 

dent, and Henry Wingate, ofFranklin, was made vice-president. ^^ 
Although harmony and enthusiasm prevailed in the convention, 
the members could not agree upon a plan of emancipation. 
Opinions ranged all the way from immediate compensated 
emancipation without colonization to the mere colonization 
of those voluntarily emancipated; but the majority of the 
members desired some plan of gradual emancipation to be 
followed by colonization. ^^ While the convention adopted 
no scheme of emanciaption, it made the following declaration 
by a vote that lacked but one of being unanimous: "Believing 
that involuntary, hereditary slavery as it exists by law in this 
state is injurious to the prosperity of the Commonwealth, 
inconsistent with the fundamental principles of free government, 
contrary to the natural rights of mankind, and adverse to a 
pure state of morals; we are of the opinion that it ought not to 
be increased, and that it ought not to be perpetuated in the 
Commonwealth." Accordingly, it was resolved to work for 
the election of delegates to the constitutional convention who 
would be in favor of the absolute prohibition of further impor- 
tation of slaves into Kentucky, and who would favor a con- 
stitution which would give the people unlimited authority to 
adopt a system of gradual emancipation. ^^ 

After the convention had adjourned, the emancipation- 
ists began at once to canvass the state for the election of delegates 
favorable to emancipation. A central executive committee, ap- 
pointed by the Frankfort convention, had general control of the 
state campaign, with Louisville as its headquarters.^*' 

Local emancipation conventions were held in many coun- 
ties in the state. Most of these adopted the "Frankfort Plat- 
form," and in some cases nominated candidates for the constitu- 
tional convention. » " There were differences of opinion in the 
various parts of the state as to just what program the emanci- 
pationists intended to adopt. In some cases the emancipation- 
ists did not go beyond the demand for the insertion of the law of 
1833 into the constitution. ^^ Many desired a constitutional 

« The Presbyterian Herald, May 3, 1849. See also Niles' Register, Vol. 75, p. 301. 

•« Many wanted the laws of 1833 incorporated into the constitution. See Breckin- 
ridge Papers for 1849; W. O. Smith to Robert J. Breckinridge, April 29, 1849, and Garret 
Davis to Robert J. BreckinridEC, April 27, 1849. 

•» Anti-Slavery Bugle, May 11. 1849; Niles' Weekly Register, Vol. 75, p. 301. 

»• The Examiner, May 5. 1849, May 12, 19, 26; June 2, 9, 16, 23, 1849. The following 
were members of the committee: Wm. Richardson, W. W. Worsley, W. E. Glover, David 
Beatty, Bland Ballard, Thomas McGram, Reuben Dawson, Patrick Dawson, W. P. Boone, 
James Speed. In addition to the counties mentioned previously as having held emancipation 
conventions were Wayne, Clarke, Crittenden, Caldwell, Ohio and Trimble. 

" Breckinridge Papers, James Matthews to Robert J. Breckinridge, May 30, 1849; 
Ibid., Frank Ballanger to Robert J. Breckinridge, May 7, 1849. 

" Ibid., Letter from Citizens of Taylorsville to Robert J. Breckinridge, June 8, 1849. 



132 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 18^0 

provision for gradual emancipation, while others wished only to 
give the legislature power to provide for emancipation any time 
that it saw fit to do so.^" This lack of unity lost the emanci- 
pationists hundreds of votes and may have been a determining 
factor in the election. ^ o" 

The pro-slavery party generally adopted the policy of nomi- 
nating as delegates to the convention "their ablest, wisest, and 
most virtuous citizens." i"i This, it was hoped, would lessen 
the strength of the emancipationists, as it most assuredly did. 
Most of the pro-slavery candidates took a mild, conciliator}^ atti- 
tude toward slavery. 102 i^ a number of counties where the 
emancipationists were strong, the pro-slavery Whigs and the 
pro-slavery Democrats united on one candidate. ^ "^ With un- 
tiring persistence they approached all classes and appealed to all 
motives that promised aid. ^ "^ Especially earnest were their ap- 
peals to the prejudices and apprehensions of the non-slaveholding 
whites who were made to believe that "to emancipate the black 
man was to enslave the white man." The arguments which 
they used most successfully were: (1) that the emancipationists 
had offered no practical method for emancipating the slaves or 
of colonizing them once they had been freed and (2) that eman- 
cipation by Kentucky and an alliance with the North, which 
would necessarily follow, would result in the dissolution of the 
Union. 

Both United States senators from Kentucky, Henry Clay 
and J. R. Underwood, as well as Robert J. Breckinridge, Cassius 
M. Clay, T. F. Marshall, T. J. Boyle and others, stumped the 
state for emancipation. There was a great demand for speeches 
by Robert J. Breckinridge, a man of high standing and of great 
ability as a speaker, whose numerous writings on the subject of 
slavery had attracted wide attention.!"'^ During the month 
of June, 1849, he published a "Platform of Emancipation," of 
which hundreds of copies were distributed throughout the 
state. '"6 In part it was as follows: "The people of Kentucky 

•• Breckinridge Papers, Geo. Blakey to Robert J. BreckmridRe, July 10, 1849. The 
Examiner, July 21, 1849. 

'»» The American Citizen, .\pril 7, 1849. 

'»' The I-X)uisville Journal, January 23, 1849. 

101 Breckinridge Papers, W. O. Smith to Robert J. Breckinridge, April 7, 1849; The 
American Citizen, .-Xpril 27, 1849. 

loa Breckinridge Papers, Citizens of TaylorsviUe to Robert J. Breckinridge, June 8, 1849. 
The Examiner. March M, 1849. 

>" The E.xaminer. .\uRUst 4, 11. 1848; July 7, 14; August 18, 1849. 

io« Breckinridge Papers, Letters to Robert J. Breckinridge from George Blakey, July 
10; A. F. Scott, July 23; R. C. Grundy, May 19; William Garnett, May 22; A. M. Brow-n, May 
21; Si.x Citizens of Clark county. May 28; James Matthews, May 30; W. O. Mills, May 30; 
E. Stevenson, May 31 ; William Hpwett . May 8; B. Mills, May 11. 

"' Lexington Observer and Reporter, June 30, July 4, 1849. The original manuscript 
is in the Breckinridge Papers. 



Failure of BWancipation — Constitutional Convention 184P 133 

ought by means of that convention: 1. Absolutely to prohibit 
the importation of any more slaves into the state : And through 
it retain in their own hands the complete power, now held by 
the call of that convention, to enforce and perfect, in or under 
the new constitution, a system of emancipation. And still further, 
this power of emancipation, thus retained, should be so guarded 
in the constitution itself that it will be exercised, (a) only prospec- 
tively, (b) only gradually, (c) only in connection with the removal 
from the state of the emancipated slaves, and finally this power 
of emancipation, and all exercise of it, should be, not of ordinary 
legislation, but of the community itself, by an expression of its 
sovereign will: (1) Either by means of a provision in the consti- 
tution allowing specific amendments, if such a clause should be 
inserted according to the original plan of the Convention party ; (2) 
or, under the Constitution, by means of an express provision in 
it, allowing the sense of the people to be taken on the question, 
if the new constitution should be procured without what is 
called the open clause." ^"^ Breckinridge regarded this plan as 
a reasonable concession to the pro-slavery party, especially since 
the slaveholders of the state were outnumbered nearly ten to 
one and were divided among themselves, the most prominent 
leaders of the emancipation movement being slaveholders. ^''^ 

There was also a great demand for speeches from Cassius 
M. Clay. He made a special effort to reach the non-slave- 
holders. In his address before the (Frankfort) convention he 
said: "For myself I am in favor of agitating this question.* **We 
must convince the people — the real people — of its importance, 
before it can be done. How can we get at the non-slaveholders 
but by agitation? The newspapers, as a general thing, do not 
reach the non-slaveholders. We must seek them out at the 
cross roads and places of public resort in their neighborhoods. 
The newspapers are already open. But we want something more 
than the press. We want men on the stump. We want to get 
at the ear of the people." ^ ^ ^ Clay had great personal magnet- 
ism, which drew many people to him, but he also had a stinging 
tongue which made many enemies for himself and for his cause. ^ ^ ^ 



108 Breckinridge Papers for 1849. 

109 "Writings of Cassius M. Clay," pp. 1S3, 186, 17Sff. Spencer County Journal, April 
16. 1849. The Examiner, June 9, 1849. 

"' "Writings of Cassius M. Clay," pp. 183, 186, 175ff. 

"» Ibid., pp. 186, 211. The Examiner, June 23, 1849. 

Upon one occasion while h e was speaking before a large audience, one of his enemies 
took offense at some of his remarks and called Clay a liar, whereupon a fight ensued in the 
assembly room, in which Turner, his opponent, was killed and Clay was seriously injured. 
Turner was clearly the aggressor and consequently Clay was never even indicted for the offense. 



134 T]\e Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 18^0 

The campaign, as a whole, although bitter, was compara- 
tively free from acts of violence. In many instances the oppos- 
ing candidates engaged in public debate, often on the "Frank- 
fort Platform." In these debates the pro-slavery leaders were 
usually the aggressors, although the emancipationists made it a 
policy never to refuse a challenge to meet publicly an opponent 
in debate. ^ 1 » in speaking of the sections of the state where the 
emancipationists were strong The Examiner said: "In those 
counties in which the proportion of slaves is largest — for instance, 
in Jefferson, Fayette and Bourbon — notwithstanding the sup- 
posed large pecuniary interests of the people in slaves, the hos- 
tility to slavery is most efficient." ^ ^ * This was one of the pecu- 
liarities of the anti-slavery movement in Kentucky, not only at 
this time but during the entire history of the state. 

The hopes of the emancipationists were far from being re- 
alized in the election of delegates to the constitutional conven- 
tion. In the twenty-nine counties where emancipationists had 
made nominations, they were unable to elect a single candidate, 
although they polled about 10,000 votes. ^^^ j^ commenting 
upon this vote, The Examiner said that according to this pro- 
portion the emancipationists could poll in the one hundred coun- 
ties of the state about 30,000 votes. It expressed the belief also 
that "thousands of the friends of emancipation in Kentucky 
were deterred from voting by various reasons," * ^ ^ but no spe- 
cific instances of intimidation or violence were given . 

Several influences contributed to reduce the number of 
emancipation votes. Many opponents of slavery thought that 
no feasible plan of emancipation and colonization had been pro- 
posed or that the time for emancipation was not ripe. Others 
believed that in the bitter sectional struggle between the slave 
and the free states it was the duty of Kentucky to stand by the 
South. Furthermore, the majority of the non-slaveholders in 
the state had not been reached by the emancipation appeals and 
contrary to their own interests adhered to the conservative 
party. On account of the strong emancipation feeling, the pro- 
slavery leaders adopted a conciliatory attitude and nominated 
candidates who were known to be men broad in their opinions 
and highly esteemed in their communities. This fact in part 
accounted for the lack of emancipation candidates in nearly 

"• Breckinridge Papers, Presbyterian Herald, May 28, 1849. 

"• The Examiner. June 16, 1849; Anti-Slavery BurIc, July 28, 1849. 

»• The Examiner, September 8, 15, 1849; The Presbyterian Herald, September 20, 1849. 

"« The Examiner, September 15. 1849. 



Failure of Emancipation — Constitutional Convention 184P 135 

three-fourths of the counties. Both the Whig and the Demo- 
cratic parties were so opposed to emancipation that, in those 
counties where the emancipationists were strongest, they laid 
aside their poHtical differences and united on a single candidate 
to the constitutional convention. Still another reason for the 
small number of emancipation votes was the fact that the eman- 
cipation candidates represented only one issue while their oppon- 
ents stood for several of the issues involved in the coming con- 
vention, thus appealing to a wide constituency. 

Notwithstanding the failure to elect emancipationists as 
delegates, there is abundant evidence of interest on the part of 
the members of the convention in slavery and emancipation. In 
the reports of the convention nearly one-fourth of the space is 
devoted to the debates on slavery, far more than was alloted to 
any other subject. If we may judge from the reports of the press 
and the frequent complaints of the members on the floor, the 
discussions of slavery had become a burden to the convention. 
The Frankfort correspondent of the Louisville Journal said: 
"The slavery question in the constitutional Convention has been 
discussed to death. The mind of the delegates is made up and 
cannot be changed, and when a delegate gets the floor and pro- 
ceeds to make a speech upon it, as he cannot be stopped, all that 
the others can do is to kill the time as well as they can until he 
sits down."i 1 " 

Although much time was given to the discussion of slavery 
it was evident that the convention was in the hands of pro- 
slavery men and that the institution was not in danger. A dele- 
gate from Fleming county said : "What is the history of this con- 
vention since it assembled here? We are asked for the incorpo- 
ration of the law of 1833 into the constitution. We are told 
that it conflicts with the interests of the slaveholder — that it is 
the first step toward emancipation; that, therefore, it must be 
sacrificed. The ballot system of voting is called for. Again we 
are told that it will prove injurious to the slave interests. The 
specific mode of amending the constitution, which the spirit of 
the nineteenth century evidently calls for, is suggested. Still 
the cry is that slave property is endangered by it. Driven in at 
all points, we ask that representation shall be equal and uniform 
throughout the Commonwealth. Even at this point they meet 
us and say that we must yield. They tell us that the dearest 

»' "Debates in the Kentucky Convention, 1849," p. 485. See also the Presbyterian 
Herald, November 1, 1849. 



136 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

right of Kentucky freemen must yield to the slave, that the time 
has arrived when one section of the state must be deprived of 
representation, must be disfranchised, to protect the interest of 
another. Where is this matter to stop? How far shall the ideal 
interests of one section of the state control the absolute rights 
of another? Are 110,000 non-slaveholder voters to be disfran- 
chised for fear they will emancipate the slaves? I stand here 
the warm advocate of the rights of the people.* * * The people of 
northern Kentucky are as conservative upon the question of 
slavery as any other section of the state. Look at the Northern 
Counties and Cities and tell me what indications of radicalism the 
late election has shown.* * * I came not from the region of the shut- 
tle and spindle on the one hand, nor do I represent the Blue- 
grass on the other, but I came as the representative of the free 
constituency of Fleming and I feel called upon by that constitu- 
ency to maintain the rights of the people at large." ^ ^ ^ This was 
furtheremphasizedbyaMr. Dixon, of Henderson County, in oneof 
the discussions when he said: "Beware, how you trample on the 
rights of the non-slaveholding community. I have the utmost 
confidence in that community, and I take leave to say, were it 
not for their forbearance, their high sense of justice, and their 
noble and elevated attachment to principle, the institution would 
have been very greatly endangered. They know that you are 
entitled to the property that you have inherited and purchased, 
and they fully recognize the great principle in our constitution, 
that no man's property shall be taken without a full and fair 
compensation. * * * I beHeve that there is not a single emancipa- 
tionist returned here to proclaim the wishes of that portion of 
our people who believe in the propriety of emancipating the ne- 
groes with compensation."! ' ^ The contention of Dixon is wellj 
supported by contemporary evidence as well as by the consti- 
tution itself. 

M. P. Marshall, of Fleming County, a man of wide influence 
and a large slaveholder, said in the convention: "There are notj 
a dozen balanced minds in this house that believe slavery to be 
a blessing. With few exceptions, you believe it to be a social] 
and political evil. Few of you, indeed, under the broad light' 
which experience has thrown on the subject, were the question 

"» "Debates in the Kentucky Convention. 1S49." p. 485. Speech of Mr. Garfield, of 
FleminR County. He was a New Englander by birth and education. 
"• "Debates in the Kentucky Convention, 1849," p. 564. 



Failure of B'niancipation — Coitstitutional Convention 184P 137 

of the introduction of slavery now open, few of you indeed, I am 
persuaded, would impose it upon Kentucky." 1 20 

Page after page attests that these sentiments were quite 
generally shared by the delegates. A few, indeed, argued for 
the institution as right and just, but the majority saw in it much 
to condemn, although they were not yet ready for emancipation. 

The work of the convention was finished in December, 1849, 
and in May of the following year the new constitution was rati- 
fied by a popular majority of 51,351, in a total vote of 91,955. 
June 3 the convention again assembled and adopted several 
amendments. The third constitution of Kentucky was then 
proclaimed and the convention permanently adjourned.121 

The new constitution in addition to retaining most of the 
provisions in the slave clause of the old constitution provided 
that "no slave shall be emancipated but upon condition that 
such emancipated slave be sent out of the state." 12 2- Another 
clause forbade free Negroes to emigrate to the state and. another 
inserted in the bill of rights gave further emphasis to the argu- 
ment which had proved so powerful in the convention campaign, 
namely, that "the right of property is before and higher than any 
constitutional sanction; and the right of the owner of a slave, 
and its increase, is the same and is as inviolable as the right of 
the owner to any property whatever." 123 Thus the convention 
itself not only failed to adopt any plan of gradual emancipation, 
but, on the contrary, the new constitution asserted, in the strong- 
est terms, the right of property in slaves and their increase. 

The Examiner in reviewing the campaign and the work of 
the convention said: "Of the ultimate success of the cause of 
emancipation in Kentucky, we have never for a moment, doubt- 
ed. The friends of the cause, during the past few months, have 
had much occasion for anxiety, but none for despondency, and 
though at present success has been denied, the certainty of final 
success was never clearer than now. The star of hope shines 
in the heaven with undimmed lustre. The subject has been 
freely discussed, and many of the best minds and purest hearts 
of the state have committed themselves gladly, unreservedly, 
and forever to the cause of freedom. We doubt not that when 
the subject shall come up again for action, to be decided upon its 
own merits, and without reference to political considerations a 

"» "Debates in the Kentucky Convention, 1849, " p. 840. 

'" Collins: "History of Kentucky," Vol. 1, p. 332. 

>» "Journal of the Convention. Debates," etc.. pp. 1087-1089. See also pp. 867-874. 

"• Ibid. See Constitution of Kentucky. 1850. Article 10, Sections 1, 2, 3. 



138 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

result will crown the efforts of the friends of freedom which will 
cause their hearts to thrill with joy." ^ 24 

The fact that in Kentucky, where four years previously 
Cassius M. Clay had been prevented, by pro-slavery men, from 
publishing an emancipation newspaper, a movement such as 
this could be set on foot and the whole question of slavery so un- 
reservedly discussed, was assuredly great progress. The free- 
dom of discussion thus secured was never lost. 1 ^ ^ From this 
date until the abolition of slavery in Kentucky by the thirteenth 
amendment to the Constitution of the United States in 1865, the 
free discussion of slavery both in the press and in public discus- 
sions prevailed to a greater extent than in any other slave state ; 
and this, one of the most important of the accomplishments of 
the anti-slavery workers of Kentucky, was in some measure re- 
sponsible for the loyalty of the state to the Union and the North 
during the Civil War. It must be said, however, that the anti- 
slavery agitation in spite of the most eminent support complete- 
ly failed to gain its chief end. On the contrary the constitution 
of 1849 made emancipation more difficult than before and more 
firmly established and safeguarded the institution of slavery in 
the state. 



"* The Examiner, December 8, 1849. This paper was discontinued after the publi- 
cation of this number, due largely to the lack of support. 

"» Cassius M. Clay was a candidate for Governor on an emancipation ticket in 1851. 
He canvassed the entire state and encountered but little opposition. 



CONCLUSIONS 



CHAPTER X 



While slavery was introduced into Kentucky with the first 
settlers, the slaves constituted a comparatively small and unim- 
portant element of the population before 1792. The early set- 
tlers, although coming largely from the slave state of Virginia, 
were men of moderate means and were consequently small or 
non-slaveholders. Furthermore, the prevalent pioneer condi- 
tions were not conducive to the development of so aristocratic 
an institution as slavery. Since the country was ill adapted 
to the plantation system, domestic slavery generally prevailed. 
And since the cultivation of tobacco, which alone of the chief 
agricultural products was suited to the extensive application of 
slave labor, was ruinous to the soil, considerable opposition was 
early manifested to its wide production in the state. 

In Kentucky, as in other sections of the country before 1792, 
people generally were hostile to slavery and anxiously looked 
forward to its final abolition. It was condemned not only by 
Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Marshall, Jay, and 
other prominent men but by the leading religious denominations 
of the country, many of which took vigorous action toward its 
ultimate elimination. As long as Kentucky remained an inte- 
gral part of Virginia, there was little opportunity for anti-slavery 
effort. No sooner, however, had the question of the admission 
of Kentucky into the Union as an independent state been set- 
tled and the election of delegates ordered in 1792 to the conven- 
tion to frame Kentucky's first constitution than the opponents 
of slavery launched a movement for constitutional emancipation. 
In many of the convention elections, the slavery issue received 
considerable attention and several candidates favorable to eman- 
cipation were elected. Under the leadership of the Rev. David 
Rice, they made a vigorous fight in the convention against the 
recognition of slavery in the new constitution, but were defeated 
by a vote of 26 to 16. The pro-slavery element was ably led by 
Col. George Nicholas and was supported by a majority of the 
political leaders of the state. 

After the adoption of the constitution, anti-slavery eff^ort 
continued unabated, especially in the churches. The Baptist 



140 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

Associations while condemning slavery regarded the question of 
emancipation as poHtical and as such attempted to prevent its 
discussion in the local churches and associations. In this, how- 
ever, they were not wholly successful, for widespread dissensions 
arose and in a few instances caused the formation of independ- 
ent emancipation churches. While the Presbyterian church 
was more pronounced in its opposition to slavery than the Bap- 
tist Associations, it suffered less from dissensions and secessions. 
Less strongly anti-slavery sentiment found expression in the Meth- 
odist Episcopal and other religious denominations of the state. 

In 1797 the first emancipation societies west of the Alle- 
ghany Mountains were organized in Kentucky. They were 
small in numbers, limited in influence, and conservative in policy, 
advocating gradual emancipation. After an existence of two or 
possibly three years they were dissolved. 

In the controversy over the calling of a constitutional con- 
vention in 1797 and 1798 and in the convention elections of the 
following year, the question of constitutional emancipation was 
one of the leading issues before the people. In most of the con- 
vention elections the candidates either voluntarily or by request 
expressed their views in regard to slavery, and in a few instances 
the campaign appeared to have been waged on this issue alone. 
Among those who favored emancipation at this time and labored 
to secure its adoption was Henry Clay, who was just beginning 
his long and eventful political career. While the anti-slavery 
forces displayed great activity and strength, they were unable 
to secure control of the convention and to prevent the new con- 
stitution's reaffirming with a few minor changes the slave pro- 
visions of the constitution of 1792. 

During the three following decades, anti-slavery sentiment 
continued to find expression in a number of ways. In the legis- 
lature repeated attempts were made to secure the passage of laws 
designed to encourage voluntary emancipation, to safeguard the 
rights and interests of free Negroes, to prevent the importation 
of slaves into the state, and to secure the calling of a constitu- 
tional convention for the purpose of adopting some plan of eman^ 
cipation. While the religious denominations were still hostile 
to slavery, there was a pronounced tendency to regard the ques-j 
tion as outside the jurisdiction of the church. Nevertheless] 
during the first quarter of the nineteenth century, Baptist dis- 
sensions were numerous and a number of seceding emancipation 
churches were organized into an association. The general at- 



Conclusions 141 

titude of the churches was a contributing cause of the formation 
in 1808 of gradual emancipation societies, which furnished an 
outlet for the expression of anti-slavery feeling. These societies 
had an active existence of about twenty years. During this 
time they embraced more or less of the colonization idea and 
finally they were either dissolved or merged into colonization 
societies. 

One of the great difficulties in connection with emancipa- 
tion was the problem of the freed slave. Should he be colonized? 
Or should he be permitted to live a free man in the former slave 
states? This latter solution, the southern people generally viewed 
with the greatest apprehension and alarm. Believing, as they 
did, in the decided inferiority of the Negro as compared with the 
white man, they could see only chaos, anarchy, and bloodshed 
following emancipation without colonization. This belief was 
based largely upon their observation of the free Negroes who 
were criminal, immoral, and depraved and were undesirable mem- 
bers of the population in the North as well as in the South. Hence 
to the people in the slave states, where the Negroes constituted 
a large percentage of the population, colonization was an exceed- 
ingly important consideration. With a desire to solve this prob- 
lem, the American Colonization Society was founded in 1816. 
Its principles, appro^•ed by Congress, many state legislatures, 
religious denominations, and other organizations, spread rapidly. 
In Kentucky and the other border states, where the anti-slavery 
workers were conservative gradual emancipationists, it became 
from the beginning very closely associated with the emancipa- 
tion movement, although all emancipationists did not necessarily 
favor colonization, neither did all colonizationists support 
emancipation. In Kentucky the colonization movement was 
very popular. It received the repeated approval of the legisla- 
ture and the active support of the religious denominations as 
well as that of the political leaders of the state, chief among whom 
was Henry Clay. During the forties, from funds raised within 
the state, a large tract of land known as "Kentucky in Liberia" 
was purchased in Liberia for the purpose of colonizing the free 
Negroes of the state as well as those Negroes who might be freed 
for the purpose of colonization. Although receiving the gen- 
eral approval of people in the state, the movement was very dis- 
appointing in its results. Because of the lack of funds and the 
indisposition of the free Negroes to present themselves to the 
society for transportation, not a great deal was accomplished in 



142 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to iS^o 

the way of ridding the state of the free Negro population or in 
preparing the state for emancipation. It served, however, as a 
means for the expression of anti-slavery sentiment through which 
the evils of slavery and the question of emancipation were kept 
constantly before the people. 

As a result of the general philanthropic and reform move- 
ment which swept over the country about 1830, in Kentucky 
there was an increased interest in the slave and the free Negro 
and a pronounced renewal of anti-slavery agitation. Emanci- 
pation became a popular topic of discussion and the Kentucky 
newspapers gave the subject more attention than at any time in 
the history of the state. A sentiment, supported largely by 
slaveholders, favoring emancipation was rapidly developing, 
which found expression in part in the formation of gradual 
emancipation societies composed of slaveholders, who pledged 
themselves voluntarily to emancipate their slaves and to work 
for the adoption of constitutional emancipation in the state. 
While the number of these societies was small, as a result of the 
prominence of many of the members they exerted an influence 
far out of proportion to their numbers. The dissolution of these 
organizations after an existence of less than five years was due 
in no small degree to the rise of the modern Garrisonian aboli- 
tion movement and the formation in 1835 of a society in Ken- 
tucky auxiliary to the American Anti-Slavery Society. This 
branch, although under the able leadership of James G. Birney, 
continued only a few months. Both the society and The Phil- 
anthropist, an abolition newspaper published by Birney, called 
forth from all classes of the population, even the gradual eman- 
cipationists, such violent opposition that he was forced to dis- 
continue his publication in Kentucky. With the discontinuance 
of this paper, the modern abolition movement in the state, which 
had become a great drawback to the real anti-sla\'ery work and 
in many instances caused its cessation altogether, collapsed. 

The increased anti-slavery activity during the early thirties 
brought the question of emancipation constantly before the re- 
ligious denominations of the state. Although they regarded 
slavery more and more as a political question with which they 
should not interfere, a strong attempt was made in the Presby- 
terian church to force a decided stand in favor of emancipation. 
While the attemjit failed, the controversy attracted wide atten- 
tion, since in this church were many of the leading political lead- 
ers and large slave owners of the state. In all the religious de- 



Conclusions 143 

nominations, interest was being diverted from the original issue 
to the question of the general well-being of the slave population. 
Particularly the Methodist Episcopal, the Presbyterian, and the 
Baptist churches made special efforts to educate and Christian- 
ize the slaves. When the divisions occurred in the Methodist 
and the Baptist churches during the forties, the Kentucky church- 
es almost unanimously supported the southern wing of the 
church. 

From the very beginning, opposition to the importation of 
slaves from other states and from foreign countries was pro- 
nounced in Kentucky, which upon receiving statehood enacted 
a number of laws designed to regulate and, to a limited 
extent, to restrict the importation of slaves. But since inade- 
quate provisions were made for their enforcement, they accom- 
plished little. Anti-slavery workers, in their endeavors to make 
slavery as humane as possible while it lasted, not only opposed 
the ordinary traffic in slaves but diligently sought to secure the 
enforcement of the existing importation laws and, further, to re- 
strict importations of slaves from other states. This, it was 
maintained, would check the increase of the slave population 
and consequently lessen the difficulties of emancipation. About 
1830, wider interest was manifested in favor of the adoption of a 
new stringent importation law. After a thorough discussion of 
the subject for three years in the legislature and throughout the 
state, the law was passed in 1833. Unfortunately, the contro- 
versy did not end here. The supporters of slavery at once launched 
a campaign to secure the repeal of this law. The question 
came before the legislature annually until 1849, when the most 
important features of the laAV of 1833 were repealed. This con- 
troversy was especially important in connection with the anti- 
slavery movement in Kentucky because in these annual debates 
on the subject almost every phase of slavery and emancipation 
was most thoroughly discussed. 

While anti-slavery workers labored in every way possible 
to counteract the many evil effects of slavery, the ultimate ob- 
ject of their efforts was constitutional emancipation. For more 
than three decades after the ratification of the constitution of 
1799, the question of calling a constitutional convention came 
before the legislature nearly every year, almost unanimously 
supported by the anti-slavery workers, although many other ad- 
vocates of the convention were opposed to emancipation. Dur- 
ing the early thirties, the convention bill became one of the lead- 



144 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 18^0 

ing issues before the legislature. Believing that the time was 
ripe for emancipation, the opponents of slavery pushed the bill 
with all their energy and were largely instrumental in causing 
the legislature, in accordance with a constitutional provision, to 
submit the question to the people in 1837. The anti-slavery 
workers throughout the country were very optimistic concern- 
ing the result and pro-slavery leaders in Kentucky and the South 
were much alarmed. While the anti-slavery workers of the 
North pronounced Kentucky "the battleground of freedom" and 
concentrated their efforts there, openly predicting that the aboli- 
tion of slavery in Kentucky would be followed in the near future 
by similar action in Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia, 
Maryland, North Carolina, and then the states of the lower South, 
the pro-slavery leaders of Kentucky and the South appealed to 
Kentucky to remain loyal to her sister slave states, from which 
came threats of commercial retaliation and even secession in case 
she deserted them and allied herself with the North. Sectional 
feeling, which was probably stronger than at any previous period 
in the history of the state, played an important part in the con- 
vention elections. Henry Clay, the most influential man in the 
state, was joined by many other prominent men in opposing the 
convention and emancipation largelj^ on the ground that due to 
the antagonism aroused by the radical abolition movement it 
was not expedient to abolish slavery at that time. Many of the 
conservative emancipationists, also, took this attitude with the 
result that the convention bill and consequently constitutional 
emancipation were defeated by a large majority. Henry Clay 
and other Kentuckians of that period expressed the belief that 
had it not been for the interference of radical abolitionists and 
northern support of the Underground Railroad System, by which 
hundreds of Kentuckians were deprived of their property in 
slaves, Kentucky probably would have adopted some plan of 
gradual emancipation. This assumption seems to be borne out 
by the historical evidence. 

For a few years following the defeat of the convention bill, 
anti-slavery activity was not conspicuous. But during the early 
forties, the bold, fearless, and energetic Cassius M. Clay, nephew 
of Henry Clay, and a member of one of the wealthiest and most 
prominent slave-owning families in the state, assumed the lead- 
ership of the anti-slavery forces and gave new life to the move- 
ment. 



Conclusions 145 

Believing that the anti-slavery sympathizers of Kentucky 
should have some medium for the expression of their views, since 
the columns of many of the newspapers were closed to anti- 
slavery discussions, he established at Lexington, in 1845, an 
anti-slavery newspaper, The True American. The circulation 
of the paper increased rapidly; but after the appearance of a few 
numbers the pro-slavery element, fearing its influence, particu- 
larly upon the non-slaveholders, to whom it made an especial 
appeal, by force compelled Clay to discontinue its publication 
in Kentucky. The press was moved to Cincinnati, where the 
paper was printed for a few months. Soon after Clay's enlist- 
ment in the army at the opening of the Mexican War, some of 
the men associated with him in the publication purchased the 
press and moved to Louisville, where they began in 1847 the pub- 
lication of The Examiner, a weekly anti-slavery paper modeled 
after The True American. This, although a pronounced 
anti-slavery paper, encountered but little opposition during the 
two years of its existence. 

When the legislature, due to the demand for constitutional 
reform, in 1846 submitted the question of calling a constitutional 
convention, the people in the elections of 1848 and 1849 returned 
large majorities in favor of it. It is impossible to say just what 
part anti-slavery workers had in this result. It is certain, how- 
ever, that emancipation was the leading issue in some counties 
and one of the important issues in many others. Since emanci- 
pation had been one of the troublesome questions in the state 
for more than half a century, there was a general desire on the 
part of both pro- and anti-slavery men to force a definite and fin- 
al settlement. This fact was of importance in the elections. 

Immediately after the election of delegates had been ordered 
for the convention, the anti-slavery men began to organize and held 
emancipation meetings throughout the state. In April, 1849, 
there was a great state convention, presided over by Henry Clay, 
who had come out openly in favor of gradual emancipation in 
the new constitution, which adopted a series of resolutions con- 
demning slavery and advocating gradual emancipation and col- 
onization. After this meeting, emancipation candidates were 
nominated in many counties and the candidates in many of the 
remaining counties were forced to state their positions in regard 
to emancipation. United States Senators Henry Clay and J. R. 
Underwood, together with many other prominent Kentuckians, 



146 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

canvassed the state in the interest of emancipation. The ques- 
tion was freely discussed both on the platform and in the press. 
One of the weaknesses of the anti-slavery cause was the lack 
of agreement upon any specific plan of emancipation and col- 
onization out of the hundreds of plans proposed and discussed. 
There was much talk of the submission of the question of eman- 
cipation to the people for a referendum vote; and local option 
as applied to slavery found many supporters. But the plan that 
attracted the most attention provided that all slaves in 1849 
should remain slaves for life but that all children of slaves born 
after a fixed date, as 1855, should be free, males at the age of 
twenty-five and females at the age of twenty, and upon acquir- 
ing freedom should be colonized in Africa at the expense of the 
state. 

The pro-slavery leaders were equally active and far better 
organized. They nominated for convention delegates their best 
men, — men who were recognized as conservativjj and safe and 
who held the confidence of the people. 

The result of the campaign was the election of pro-slavery 
candidates in every county in the state. The convention which 
assembled a few months later, instead of providing some plan of 
gradual emancipation, added a number of provisions to the slave 
clause of the old constitution making voluntary emancipation 
more difficult and safeguarding the rights of slaveholders to 
their property in slaves. 

With the defeat of the emancipation party in the conven- 
tion election of 1849 and the ratification of the new constitution, 
the possibility of the abolition of slavery in Kentucky for many 
years vanished. While the anti-slavery leaders did not lose 
confidence in the ultimate success of their efi'orts, they realized 
both that a long and systematic campaign was necessary to con- 
vince the people that slavery should be abolished because it was 
not only morally wrong but economically harmful to their inter- 
ests, and that some definite, practical plan of emancipation and 
colonization must be brought forward to command the support 
of all the elements in the anti-slavery ranks. 

During the fifties, the anti-slavery party gradually increased 
in strength and influence through the addition to their numbers 
of many prominent men. As in the preceding decade, emanci- 
pation was in many counties an important issue. And in one 
instance Cassius M. Clay canvassed the state as an emancipa- 
tion candidate for governor. 



Conclusions 147 

As the hostility between the North and the South increased 
after 1850, the sectional lines in Kentucky became more closely 
fixed and the national questions such as the extension of slavery 
into the territories of the United States and the right of secession 
'attracted more and more attention. Because of the loyalty of 
the great majority of Kentuckians to the Union, slavery in Ken- 
tucky became so closely associated with these national questions 
that were rapidly dividing the Union into two hostile camps that 
itfiis exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to treat them sepa- 
rately. For this reason it has been thought advisable to consid- 
er the period after 1850 in a second volume. 



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1 



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Presbyterians of Kentucky: An address to the, Proposing a plan for the 
Instruction and Emancipation of their Slaves. By a Committee of the 
Synod of Kentucky, 1836. Pamphlet. Newburyport, 1836. Also 
Louisville, 1844. 

Putnam, Mary B.: The Baptists and Slavery, 1840-1845. Ann Arbor, 
1913. 

QuiLLiN, Frank D.: The Color Line in Ohio. University of Michigan 
History Studies. Ann Arbor, 1913. 

Rafinesque, ^. S.: Ancient History or Annals of Kentucky with a Survey 
of the Ancient Movements of North America. Pamphlet. Frankfort, 
Ky., 1824. 

Ranck, George W.: The History of Lexington, Kentucky. Cincinnati, 
1872. 

Rankin, John: Letters on Slavery Addressed to Thomas Rankin. 13 Let- 
ters. Boston, 1833. 



154 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

Redford, Rev. A. H.: The History of Methodism in Kentucky. 3 Vols. 

Nashville, 1868. 
Redford, A. H. : Western Cavaliers, Embracing the History of the Methodist 

Episcopal Church in Kentucky from 1832-1844. Nashville, 1876. 
Rice, Rev. David: Slavery Inconsistent with Justice and Good Policy. 

A Speech delivered in the Constitutional Convention at Danville, 

Kentucky, in 1792. Pamphlet. Philadelphia, 1792. 
Robertson, George: Scrap Book on Law and Politics, Men and Times. 

Lexington, 1855. 
Robinson, Rev. John: The Testimony and Practice of the Presbyterian 

Church in Reference to Slavery. Cincinnati, 1852. 
Roosevelt, Theodore: The Winning of the West. 4 Vols. New York, 

1889-1896. 
Rothert, Otto A. : A History of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky'. Louis- 
ville, 1913. 
Russell, John R.: The Free Negro in Virginia, 1619-1865. J. H. U. S. 

Series 31, No. 3. 
ScHURz, Carl: Life of Henry Clay. 2 Vols. In the American Statesman 

Series. Boston, 1899. 
Semple, Robert B.: History of the Rise and Progress of the Baptists 

of Virginia. Richmond, Va., 1810. 
Severn, Earl G: Letters on the Condition of Kentucky in 1825. New York, 

1917. 
Shaler, N. S.: Kentucky, an American Commonwealth. Boston, 1900. 
Siebert, Wilbur H.: The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom. 

New York, 1898. 
Sill, W.: The Underground Railroad. Philadelphia, 1872. 
Smith, William H.: A Political History of Slavery' : being an account of the 

slavery controversy from the earliest agitations in the 18th century to 

the close of the Reconstruction Period. New York, 1903. 
Smith, Hon. Z. F".: The History- of Kentucky. Louisville, 1886. 
Spaulding, M. J.: Sketches of the early Catholic Missions of Kentucky 

from their commencement in 1787 to the Jubilee of 1826-1827. Louis- 
ville, 1844. 
Speed, Thomas: The Political Club, Danville, Kentucky, 1786-1790. Being 

an account of an early Kentucky Society from the original papers 

recently found. Filson Club Publications, No. 9. Louisville, 1894. 
Spencer, J. H.: A History of the Kentucky Baptists from 1769-1886. 

2 Vols. 1886. 
Taylor, Rev. John: The Histor>' of the Ten Baptist Churches of which the 

author has been alternately a member, in which will be seen something 

of a Journal of the Author's Life for more than Fifty years. Frankfort, 

Ky., 1823. 
TowNSEND, John Wilson: Kentuckians in History' and Literature. New 

York, 1907. 
Trexler, Harrison Anthony: Slavery in Missouri, 1804-1865. J. H. U. 

S. Series 32, No. 2. Baltimore, 1914. 
Tucker, St. George: A Dissertation on Slavery with a proposal for the 

Gradual Abolition of it in the State of Virginia. Philadelphia, 1796. 
Turner, Frederick Jackson: The Rise of the New West. The Ameri- 
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Underwood, Hon. Joseph R.: An Address delivered to the Colonization 

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Frankfort, Ky., 1835. 
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Evansville, Ind., 1886. 
Van Meter, B. F.: Dead Issues and Live Ones. Lexington, Ky., 1914. 
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United States. 1750-1861. 8 Vols. Chicago, 1876-1892. 
Washburn, E. B.: Sketches of Edward Coles, Second Governor of Illinois, 

and the Slavery Struggle of 1823-1824. Chicago, 1882. 
Watts, William Courtney: Chronicles of a Kentucky Settlement. New 

York, 1897. 



Bibliography 155 

Webb, Hon. Ben. J.: The Centenary of Catholicity in Kentucky with De- 
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Webster, Delia A.: A History of the Trial of Miss Delia Webster at 
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Weeks, Stephen B.: Anti-Slavery Opinion in the South; Unpublished 
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Weeks, Stephen B.: Southern Quakers and Slavery. In the Johns 
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the 9th of November, 1840. Pamphlet. Lexington, 1840. 

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addressed to the freemen of Fayette County. Lexington, Ky., 1841. 
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County, Ky., Lexington, Ky., 1845. Pamphlet. Cong. Libr. 

Williams, George W.: The History of the Negro Race in America from 
1619 to 1880. 2 Vols. New York, 1883. 

Wilson, Henry: The Rise and Fall of the Slave Power. 3 Vols. Boston, 
1873. 

Woodson, C. G.: The Education of the Negro prior to 1861 : A History of 
the Education of the Colored People of the United States, from the 
Beginning of Slavery to the Civil War. New York, 1915. 

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Young, Rev. John C: Scriptural Duties of Masters. A Sermon Preached 
in Danville, Kentucky, in 1846. Pamphlet. Boston, 1846. 



MANUSCRIPTS. 



The Lyman C. Draper Collection of Manuscripts, in the Wisconsin State 
Historical Society Library, contains much valuable material on Kentucky 
history. Of special use in the preparation of this volume were the Daniel 
Boone Manuscripts, Vols. 3-11, and the Kentucky Manuscripts, Worgley 
Papers, Vols. 5-8, of this collection. 

A recent contribution to the library of the University of Chicago is the 
collection of the R. T. Durrett Manuscripts, the papers of a number of prom- 
inent Kentuckians. It is one of the largest, as well as one of the most 
valuable manuscript collections on Kentucky history in existence. 

The Breckinridge Papers, donated to the Library of Congress by Miss 
Sophonisba Preston Breckinridge and Mr. Desha Breckinridge, in 1905, 
subject to certain conditions which have prevented their being thrown open 
to the general public, contain the papers of John Breckinridge, 1760-1806, 
John Breckinridge, his son, 1797-1841, Robert Jefferson Breckinridge, another 
son, 1800-1871, and William Campbell Preston Breckinridge, son of Robert, 
1837-1905. In addition there are papers of many other members of the 
family. In the collection there are between 25,000 and 30,000 papers which 
are arranged chronologically. Much valuable material for this study was 
obtained from this collection. 

The papers of J. J. Crittenden, about 2,500 in number, marking his long 
and distinguished career as a public servant, are in the Library of Congress. 
The papers covering the period from 1840 to 1850 were useful in connection 
with this work. 

Valuable for the early period of Kentucky history were the Harry Innis 
Papers, in the Library of Congress, containing about 3,000 pieces. 



ANTI-SLAVERY NEWSPAPERS. 



The Anti-Slavery Bugle, 

Salem, Ohio, 1845-1850. 
The Abolition Intelligencer and Missionary Magazine, 

Shelbyville, Ky., 1822-1823. 
The African Observer, 

Philadelphia, Pa., 1827-1828. 
The African Repository, 

Washington, D. C, 1826-1850. A Colonization Paper. 
The Anti-Slavery Almanac, 

Boston, Mass., 1836-1844. 
The Anti-Slavery Examiner, 

New York, N. Y., 1836-1839. 
The Emancipator, 

New York, N. Y., 1834-1850. 
Freedom's Journal, 

New York, N. Y., 1827-1828. 
The Genius of Universal Emancipation, 

Mount Pleasant, Ohio, 1821. 

Greeneville, Tenn., 1822-1824. 

Baltimore, Md., 1824-1830. 

Washington, D. C, 1830-1836. 

Philadelphia, Pa., 1836-1839. 
The Herald of Freedom, 

Concord, N. H., 1836. 
The Liberator, 

Boston, .Mass., 1831-1850. 



Newspapers 157 



The Philanthropist, 

Cincinnati, Ohio, 1837-1838. 
The Quarterly Anti-Slavery Magazine, 

New York, N. Y., 1836-1837. 



NEWSPAPERS. 



The American Republic, 

Frankfort, Ky., 1810-1812. 
The Argus of Western America, 

Frankfort, Ky., 1816-1830. 
The Commentator, 

Frankfort, Ky., 1823-1832. 
The Commonwealth, 

Frankfort, Ky., 1834-1850. 
The Cross (Baptist), 

Frankfort, Ky., 1834*** 
The Guardian of Freedom, 

Frankfort, Ky., 1799-1805. 
The Kentuckian, 

Frankfort, Ky., 1828-1831. 
The Spirit of Seventy-Six, 

Frankfort, Ky., 1826-1828. 
The Kentucky Gazette, 

Lexington, Ky., 1794-1836. 
The Kentucky Reporter, 

Lexington, Ky., 1812-1832. 
The Lexington Observer, 

Lexington, Ky., 1831-1832. 
Stewart's Kentucky Herald, 

Lexington, Ky., 1795-1802. 
The Western Luminary, 

Lexington, Ky., 1824-1835. 
The Western Monitor, 

Lexington, Ky., 1814-1825. 
The Louisville Correspontdent, 

Louisville, Ky., 1814-1815. 
The Louisville Herald and Commercial Gazette, 

Louisville, Ky., 1832-1834. 
The Farmer's Library, 

Louisville, Ky., 1802-1807. 
Louisville Literary News Letter, 

Louisville, Ky., 1838-1840. 
The Louisville Public Advertiser, 

Louisville, Ky., 1818-1850. 
The Louisville Journal, 

Louisville, Ky., 1840-1850. 
The Prentice Review, 

Louisville, Ky. 
The Western Presbyterian Herald, 

Louisville, Ky., 1836-1838. 
The Presbyterian Herald, 

Louisville, Ky., 1846-1850. 



158 The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850 

The Maysville Eagle, 

Maysville, Ky., 1823-1850. 
The Rights of Man, or The Kentucky Mercury, 

Paris, Ky., 1797. 
The Western Citizen, 

Paris, Ky., 1824-1831. 
The Advocate of Popular Rights, 

Shelbyville, Ky., 1833-1834. 
The Baptist Banner, 

Shelbyville, Ky., 1835-1836. 
The Political Examiner and General Recorder, 

Shelbyville, Ky., 1832-1833. 
The Mirror, 

Washington, Ky., 1797-1798. 
The Kentucky Advertiser, 

Winchester, Ky., 1816-1818. 
NiLEs' Weekly Register, 

Washington, D. C, 1812-1849. 
The Cincinnati Chronicle, 

Cincinnati, Ohio, 1830-1850. 



INDEX 



PAGE 

Abolition, Immediate (see Garrisonian Aboli- 
tion) 10, 31, 47, 48, 63, 70f 

Abolition Intelligencer and Missionary Magazine 46,47 

African Repository 53, 54 

Agriculture in Kentucky 7,8,9 

Alexander, J. R 85 

Alien and Sedition Acts 30 

American Anti-Slavery Society 73ff 

American Colonization Society for the Free People of 

Color 50-62 

Birney and The 70 

American Convention of Delegates for the Promotion 
of the Abolition of Slavery and Improving the 

Condition of the African Race 24, 25, 50, 51 

Anti-Slavery : 

Activity in the Baptist Church 19ff , 37-42, 79-82 

Activity in the Methodist Church 20, 21, 34, 35, 79ff 

Activity in the Presbyterian Church 21-25, 36, 37, 82-87 

Newspapers note 64, 46 

Pioneers in 12 

Sentiment in 1830 64f 

Ashmun Association 71, 72 

Ballard, Bland note 57,123 

Baptist Associations: 

Association of Baptists, Friends of Humanity.. 41,42 
Baptized Licking Locust, Friends of Humanity . . 39, 40 

Bracken 38 

Cumberland 38 

Elkhorn 19, 37, 38 

Miami, of Ohio 40, 41 

North District 38 

Salem 19 

Baptist Banner 76, 82, 120 

Baptist Church: 

Anti-Slavery Resolutions of the General Com- 
mittee of Virginia 19 



160 Index. 

PAGE 

Attitude Toward Garrisonian Abolition 76ff 

Attitude Toward the Domestic Slave Trade 91 

Attitude Toward Slavery Before 1800, 19f; 1800- 

1830, 37-42; 1830-1850, 79-82 

Divisions in 82 

Vote of Ministers in Convention of 1792 17 

Baptized Licking Locust Association, Friends of Hu- 
manity 39, 40 

Barrow, David 20, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 45, 47 

Bell, W. C 115 

Birney, James G 69, 70, 71, 74, 75, 85, 102 

Blue Grass Region, Slave Population of 7 

Boone, Daniel note 3, 6 

Boyle, T. J 132 

Breckinridge, John 26, note 39, 26, 27, 29, 30 

Breckinridge, Robert J ... .31, 32, 54, 58, 84, 92, 96, 100, 

Note 32, 108, 129, 130, 132, 133 

Breckinridge, W. L 85, 125 

Bryant Station Convention 29, 30 

Buchanan, Professor 74 

Burch, James K 85 

Carmen, Joshua 20 

Cartwright, Peter 36 

Chronicle, The 123 

Clark, George 92 

Clarke, J. F 66 

Clay, Brutus J 118 

Clay, Cassius M 56,95 ,96 ,lllf ,130 ,132 ,133 

Clay, Henry. .27,28,31,32,34,49,51,55,57,58,69, 81, 

105, 107, 108, 109, 113, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 132 

Clay, James B 116f, 128 

Coffin, Levi note 36, 110 

Colonization of Free Negroes 45,48, 50ff, 84, 123, 126, 127 

Commonwealth, The 106 

Constitutional Convention of 1792 13-17 

Constitutional Convention of 1799: 

Slave Clause 31,32 

Slavery Discussion 31, 32 

Vote for Calling 25, 26 

Constitutional Convention of 1849 120-137 

Cowan, A. M 59, 60 



Index. 161 

PAGE 

Crosley, F 118 

Crowe, John Finley 45 

Cunningham, Charles N 85 

Danville Political Club 9, 10 

Opposition to Slavery 12 

Democrats 113f, 122, 132, 135 

Dodge, Josiah 20 

Domestic Slave Trade : 

Attitude of the Danville Political Club 12 

Attitude of the Kentucky Abolition Society 43-47 

Attitude of the Methodist Church 35, 36, 91 

Attitude of the Presbyterian Church 36, 91 

Early Legislation 89 

Extent of 88, 89 

Slave Clause in the Constitution of 1792 . . . .note 14, 14 

Slave Clause in the Constitution of 1799 31, 32 

Dorchester, Lord (Sir Guy Carleton) 7 

Dudley, Ambrose 41 

Emancipation : 

American Convention of Delegates 50ff 

American Colonization Society 50ff 

Ashmun Association 71, 72 

Baptist Church 19ff , 37-42 

Bryant Station Convention 29, 30 

Clay's Plan of, 1849 126 

Constitutional Convention of 1799 31, 32 

Demand for Constitutional Emancipation 1800- 

1850 33,98-111 

Discussion in Legislature of 67 

Emancipation Churches 20ff 

Gradual Emancipation Societies 68ff 

Kentucky Abolition Society 42, 43 

Kentucky Anti-Slavery Society 74 

Kentucky Society for the Relief of the State from 

Slavery 70,71 

Methodist Church 21, 36 

Presbyterian Church 22, 23, 85f 

Sentiment 1840-50 112ff, 122 

South and Emancipation in Kentucky 105f 

Voluntary 53, 57 



162 Index. 

PAGE 

Emancipation Convention : 

Frankfort Convention 129-131, 133, 134 

Frankfort Platform 131, 134 

Plans for llSff 

Emancipator, The 105, 106, 107 

Examiner, The 118, 119ff, 134, 137 

Fee, John G 123, 124, 130 

Filson, John 12 

Frankfort Commonwealth 130 

Frankfort Convention. See Emancipation Convention. 

Frankfort Platform 131, 134 

Free Negro 25,43,45,47,49,50,51-62 

Fugitive Slaves. See Underground Railroad. 

Garrard, James 41 

Garrisonian Abolition 72, 73 

Attitude of Churches 76-80 

Attitude of the Kentucky Press 76-78, 98-111 

Garrison, William Lloyd 73, 95, 106, 115, 128 

Genius of Universal Emancipation 46, note 64, 46, 64 

Green, John 58,67,85,91,92 

Griggs, Jacob 20 

Hall, Nathan H 85 

Harrison, Carter R note 86, 130 

Harrodsburg, Census of, 1777 note 5, 6 

Helm, J. M 102 

Hickman, William 20, 41 

Hints on Slavery lOOf 

Holmes, Donald 20 

Hopkins, Samuel note 61 , 30 

Johnson, M. C note 86, 130 

Jouett, George P note 86, 130 

Kendall, Amos 75 

Kentucky Abolition Society 40, 42f f 

Kentucky Colonization Society 53ff , 84 

Kentucky, Settlement of 6 

Number of Slaves in, 1790 6, 7 

Products of, 1789, 1818, 7, 8; 1840 8 

Population of 1800-1830 6, 7 

Kentucky Resolutions 30 

Kentucky Society for the Relief of the State from 

Slavery 70, 71 



Index. 163 

PAGE 

Lasley, Thomas 80 

Legislature of Kentucky : 

Demand for a Constitutional Convention 33, 98ff, 120ff 

Discussion of Slavery in 1828 67 

Memorial of the Kentucky Abolition Society to . . 45 

Non-importation Law of 1833 88-97 

Petition for Colonization 60, 61 

Petition of Danville Colonization Society 52, 55 

Pro-Slavery Feeling in 33 

Letcher, Ex-Governor 122 

Lewis, H. P note 86, 130 

Lexington Atlas 122 

Lexington Observer 104 

Liberia 51ff 

Kentucky in 59f 

Local Option 121 

Logan, Daniel 29 

Louisville Courier 120, 121, 122, 124 

Louisville Journal 56, 120, 122 

Louisville Public Advertiser 56 

Lundy, Benjamin 46, 47, 64 

Mahan, John B note 36, 110 

Marshall, M. P 136 

Marshall, Thomas 96, 132 

Maryland 67, 68 

McClung, John A 61 

Mclntyre, John note 61, 30 

Methodist Church : 

Attitude Toward Domestic Slave Trade 91 

Attitude Toward Garrisonian Abolitionism 76 

Attitude Toward Slavery of General Conferences 
1792-1800, 20, 21; 1800-1830, 34, 35; 1830- 

1850 79f 

Colonization 53 

Divisions in 80, 81 

Vote of Ministers in Convention of 1792 17 

Mexican War 118 

Missouri : 

Controversy Over Admission of 33, 34, note 5, 34 

Modern Abolitionism. See Garrisonian Abolitionism. 
Morehead, James T 107 



164 Index. 

PAGE 

Nicholas, George 13, 14, 15, 16, 29,30 

Nicholas, S. S note 57, 123 

Non-Importation Law of 1833 88-97 

Attitude of Churches 91, 114 

Ohio 67,68,109,110 

Patterson, Robert 22 

Pendleton, James M note 37, 119 

Philanthropist, The 74, 75 

Pindell, Richard 126 

Presbyterian Church: 

Attitude Toward Domestic Slave Trade 91 

Attitude Toward Garrisonian Abolitionism 77 

Anti-Slavery Controversy in . 21, 22, 23, 24, 36, 37, 82,83-87 

Colonization 53, 60 

David Rice 12f 

Vote of Ministers in Convention of 1792 17 

Presbyterian Herald 52, 96 

Presbyteries : 

Transylvania 22 

West Lexington 23, 83 

Pro-Slavery 33, 51 

Opposition to Emancipation, 1849 132 ,135f 

Opposition to Constitutional Convention 13-17, 

25-32; 98, 120-137 

Opposition to Non-Importation Law of 1833 96, 97 

Opposition to The True American 116-117 

Rice, David: 

Pioneer Leader in Kentucky 12, 13 

Delegate to the Convention of 1792 13 

Opposition to Slave Clause in Constitution of 

1792 14, 15; 22-25, 119 

Robert, John 128 

Russellville Messenger 64 

Shelby, Governor 27 

Skillman, Thomas T 64, 70 

Slaves: 

Number of 1790 . 6, 7 

Number of 1792 17 

Education of 37, 83ff 

See Domestic Slave Trade. 
Smith, Elisha 93 



Index. 165 

PAGE 

Smith, Gerrit 74, 114 

Smith, Thomas Porter 85 

Societies, Anti-Slavery: 

American Anti-Slavery Society 73ff 

Ashmun Association 71, 72 

Gradual Emancipation Societies 68, 69 

Kentucky Abolition Society 40, 42ff, 47 

Kentucky Anti-Slavery Societies 1797-98 24, 25 

Kentucky Anti-Slavery Society 74 

Kentucky Colonization 53flF, 84 

Kentucky Society for the Relief of the State from 

Slavery 70 

Speed, James note 57, 123 

Stuart, Robert 85 

Sutton, John 20 

Tappan, Lewis 102 

Tarrant, Carter 20, 39, 40, 41 

Texas, Annexation of 112, 117, note 28, 118 

Thornton, J. R 130 

Tobacco 7, 8, 9, 10,67,68 

True American, The 114, 115,116 

Turner, James note 86, 130 

Turner, May Squire note 31, 94 

Underground Railroad System 109-110 

Underwood, Joseph R 55, 61, 130, 132 

Vaughan, John C 118, 120 

Virginia : 

Constitutional Convention of 1829 63 

Wallace, William K note 86, 130 

Waters, T. H 117 

Western Luminary 37, 52, 64, 86 

Western Presbyterian Herald 77, 78 

Whigs 113f, 122, 132, 135 

White, Moses 45 

Wickliffe, Howard 95 

Wickliffe, Robert 56, 89, 95, 96, 98,99, 100, 114 

Wingate, Henry 131 

Worsley, W. W note 70, 125 

Young, J. C 54, 74, 85 



